Stranded
by lisslee333
Summary: Leonard, Sheldon, Penny, Raj, Howard, and Barry get stranded on an island previously untouched by man and will have to struggle to survive. They'll have to face the environment, the creatures that inhabit the island, the possibility of disease, their underlying primitive side, and each other (and possibly more factors). NO, IT IS NOT A "SHENNY" STORY
1. Introduction

Okay, so this is basically a completely different thing than that of the normal Big Bang Theory universe. Like - really, really different, and some parts will probably be hard to believe, but after all, this _is_ fiction. By "hard to believe", I mean that the characters we all know and love will just happen to be the only ones who survived the plane crash (and will definitely act different as time goes on). Yeah, I know, it's ridiculous, but it's just easier to start off that way instead of killing off a bunch of randoms. Also, it's a made up island that is inhabited by an interesting variety of creatures, and the geography can go from flat desert to jungles filled with cliffs, so prepare for possible confusion. Overall, I think it's safe to say it'll be pretty weird. I hope some of you will enjoy reading it, though.

***I OWN NOTHING OF THE BIG BANG THEORY***


	2. Stranded

_-The very beginning is boring, but everything has to have a beginning, and I'm not a good writer :p-_

 _July 16th, 2009_

It has been only a few hours since the plane crash, and Penny, Leonard, Sheldon, Raj, Howard, and Barry were [coincidentally, lol] the only ones to survive. Everyone else and the luggage went up in flames where the plane had crashed onto a stone beach. Thankfully, the fire didn't burn down the forest, though. They had all been on an airplane for a vacation when it went off track and (for a reason they never found out) plummeted toward an unidentified island surrounded by unusually rough waters. Penny and the guys happened to be on the same plane as Barry Kripke, so he was also with them. No one minded his company except for Sheldon, but another person is good to have when they might need help. It was almost sunset now, and the six of them had gathered on a sandy beach quite a ways from the stone beach to get away from the chaos. Everyone sat down, finally having the time to try to comprehend what happened a few hours ago. No one talked for a while until Sheldon looked up at Leonard. "I told you vacations are nothing but trouble."

"Sheldon, you have to be kidding me. Do you have any idea what just happened?"  
"Yes, that's why I just said what I just said!" Everyone else looked up to watch them argue.

"No, what I mean is, that's not our problem right now! Look behind you! You see that? That's the complete opposite of civilization!" Leonard was already very mad, and he was pointing to the dense jungle behind them.

"Okay, guys, just calm down," said Penny as she rubbed her forehead, sitting 'criss-cross-applesauce' and holding her head up by having her elbow rest on her knee. "We can't afford to argue right now - I'm pretty sure none of us know what this place is, and we lost everything in the crash."

"She's right," said Barry [imagine he has his speech impediment. I'm not writing like that lol]. "We have to build a shelter."

"And find food and drinkable water," Howard added. Sheldon cringed at the thought of having to drink water from the outside. Raj stayed silent because Penny was near them. He just nodded whenever he agreed with something.

"Right," said Leonard, who was more calm, now. "It's almost sundown, so we should assign jobs." He looked around at everyone as they nodded.

"We should elect a leader," said Sheldon as he started to stand up.

"Shut up, Sheldon," Howard snapped. Sheldon nodded and sat back down on the hot sand. They both looked back at Leonard.

"We don't need to elect any leaders," Leonard said. "But we should try to assign jobs as soon as possible. We don't know what lives on this island…" Everyone looked at each other and the jungle worriedly.

"Raj, Barry, and I can find some sturdy branches to build some kind of fort. It'll at least get us through the first night," said Howard.

"Good, but don't leave until we all know what we're doing. I don't want anyone to get lost," said Leonard. Raj and Barry nodded. Penny looked at Sheldon worriedly, but he didn't notice. He was still looking at Leonard, his mouth open only the slightest bit in concentration. He shut it completely when Leonard turned to them, and Penny faced him as well. "You two," he said.

"Yes?" asked Penny, hoping she wouldn't have to find food. Water was easy. You could hear water. You can't hear food.

"Penny, you try to find some water that isn't _too_ disgusting, and Sheldon and I will try to look for food. She nodded, and Sheldon threw his arms up.

"Why do _we_ have to find food?" he complained.

"Because I'm finding the water," Penny said teasingly. Sheldon just frowned at her.

"That," Leonard began. "And because our best bet in this kind of environment is a fruit tree, and you're tall," he joked, smiling. Everyone else smiled, but Sheldon, of course, took it too seriously and stared at the ground, confused. Before he could make some smart-ass comment, Barry started to talk.

"So, about getting lost… how do you think we should go about preventing that?"

"That's what we have to figure out," said Leonard. They all sat in silence and tried to think of ways to keep from getting too far from each other when their tasks would be performed. After a few moments, Raj jolted up as he realized an obvious solution. He leaned over to Howard and whispered in his ear. Everyone watched as Howard listened.

"Oh, duh," he said. "A fire."

"The smoke will show where it is, and it'll be our meeting point," said Barry. Sheldon made a weird face.

"But won't it be too dark to see the smoke once night has fallen?"

"Probably, so that's why we have to do this quick," said Leonard, standing up. "Where should we build it?" Everyone else was standing up as well and looking around.

"How about right where the grass meets the beach? Up on that ledge over there," Penny said as she pointed to the land.

"Looks good," said Leonard, and they all started to run the few hundred feet to the small ledge. It was a good thing they all had shoes because the sand was very hot. It would have been even hotter if it were the middle of the day, but since the sun was starting to go down, it had cooled a bit. The air was also a little hot, and most of them had already started to sweat. Once they reached the small slope with grass on the other side, they climbed onto the top and stood there.

"I'll get some rocks," said Barry as he ran to the outskirts of the jungle. He came back a minute later with some large navy blue rocks and a bundle of dry sticks. Penny and Raj ran over to help him carry them the rest of the way to save time. "Thanks." They dropped the sticks into a pile and put the rocks down. Leonard kneeled down and formed a circle with the rocks, putting the sticks in the middle. He then stared up at the sky, frowning.

"What's the matter?" Penny stepped closer.

"Well, I don't know how to start a fire other than using my glasses, but there's not enough sunlight," said Leonard, looking down at the fire pit.

"What? I thought you guys were brilliant scientists."  
"And I thought you were trained in the ways of a man when it comes to camping," Sheldon interjected.

"Sheldon, just shut up-"

"Guys, stop arguing," Barry snapped. "We're running out of time."

"We still don't know how this is gonna work," said Leonard calmly. Everyone just looked at each other. Leonard thought of something, but he knew they wouldn't like it. "...Maybe we can wait until tomorrow…?" he said hesitantly. Sheldon, Raj, and Howard made noises in complaint.

"Hey, we can survive one night, okay? We're not starving just yet," said Barry, looking at them.

"Right," said Leonard.

"Fine," said Howard. "So I guess we're not building a shelter tonight, either?"

"Not just yet," Leonard responded. "But I think we'll be safe out here - not too close to the jungle, and definitely not too close to the ocean." A few of them nodded.

"So, what, we're just supposed to sleep out in the open?" Sheldon protested as his stomach growled.

"We have to," said Penny. "Just for one night, Sheldon, I'd rather get everything going tomorrow than lose people in that jungle."

"...I guess you're right. But I'm sleeping down here in case something _does_ come out of there," Sheldon said as he got up and made his way down the short sandy slope.

"You do that, Sheldon," Howard said as he just laid down where he was. They were all exhausted to the point where they didn't really care if they had to sleep in the grass. And it wasn't exactly uncomfortable. Sure, it was hot and dry, but there was a softness to it as well. Penny cozied up to Leonard, and he put his arm around her. Raj and Barry just laid where they had been standing, and Sheldon was laying on his side in the sand. As the sky grew darker, everyone eventually fell asleep to the sounds of the jungle and the cool breeze from the ocean.

In the thick of the night, Barry woke up to a tingling sensation on his left forearm. He had been laying on his stomach with his head on its right side, facing that arm. He wearily opened his eyes and squinted at a long black figure that was slithering around his arm and immediately sat up, shouting and waking everyone up. "Ah! What the hell!?" He was shaking his arm around, trying to get the thing off of it.

"What? What's going on?" said Leonard's voice. It was almost too dark and foggy to see even his figure sitting a couple of feet away.

"There's something on my arm! Ow! It hurts! Get it off!" Barry was now trying to pry it off with his right hand. The thing was about three inches wide, and it was pretty flat and squishy. He pulled, but the more he pulled, the more a spot on his arm felt like it was being torn off. "Oh, my God, I can't get it off!" There was then a more high pitched scream.

"Penny?!" Leonard looked to his left where Penny was sitting. She shook her head and pointed next to Howard, where Raj was rolling around on the ground, trying to pry another thick, black band off of his calf (he was wearing shorts).

"Woah, woah, Raj! Stop moving - I can help!" Howard was reaching for his leg, and he stopped rolling around. He was breathing heavily, but he couldn't say anything. Penny went to help as well, and Leonard went over to Barry as Sheldon quickly hopped onto the grass to help.

"I think it's a giant leech!" Penny shouted as she angrily pulled at the one on Raj's leg. He squealed in pain. "Sorry, sweetie."

"It's gotta be!" said Leonard, grasping the thick worm on Barry's arm.

"I thought they only lived in water!"

"They can be terrestrial, too," Sheldon said as he looked at the leech worriedly. Barry frowned at him.

"Cooper, what are you doing?! Help!"

"I don't want to touch that thing!"

"Just shut up, and pull!" said Leonard as he tried to rip the leech from Barry's arm.

"Agh! Careful!" Barry yelled.

"Sorry, it must be latched on pretty good." Leonard was still tugging at it as Sheldon finally grabbed it. Sheldon gave one hard pull, and the leech was torn out of Barry's skin. He let it fall to the ground, and Leonard seized it, not allowing it to get away.

"Ow!" Barry rubbed the spot it had bitten and looked up. "I've been bitten by leeches before, and it didn't hurt."

"Yes, that's odd, but right now we have to worry about Raj," said Sheldon as he ran over to Raj, Howard, and Penny. The leech that was on Raj's leg was about five and a half inches wide, and it was very long. "Oh, lord! That one's huge!"

"Who cares, Sheldon? Just pull on it!" Penny and Howard were both pulling, and Raj was wincing, trying to keep himself together. Sheldon kneeled and leaned in between them.

"Okay, okay, I'm going…" Just as he reached for the leech, Howard and Penny pulled it free, and their hands hit Sheldon square in the face. "Ow!" Penny quickly looked at him.

"Sorry!"

"One thing after another!" Sheldon put his hand up to his nose, and blood flowed all over it. "Damn…" He stood up and tilted his head up, walking over to the jungle to get a large leaf. Raj was breathing deeply, lying on his back and smiling. 'Thank you,' he mouthed and shut his eyes. Penny smiled.

"No problem."

"Yeah, now help me kill this thing," said Howard, still holding onto the squirming black creature.

"Hold it on the ground," said Penny as she reached for a navy blue rock. Howard, making a disgusted face, held the leech against the grass, and Penny turned back to him. He saw what she was holding and quickly moved his hands lower on the leech's body to get out of the way. She smashed the rock down on the leech, and its juices splattered on the rock and on Howard's hand.

"Oh," he gagged, "God." Penny laughed and pointed as she lifted the rock away.

"Look, it exploded." She smiled with her mouth open at Leonard, who was carrying Barry's leech to her.

"That's great, now kill this one." He held it on the ground as Sheldon came back from the jungle holding a leaf to his face, and Penny forcefully dropped the rock onto the leech. Leonard pulled his hands away just before it exploded. Penny couldn't help but laugh again. Everyone else (but Sheldon) gave a sigh of relief and laid down. They were so tired, and that quick midnight scare only made them more exhausted.

"It's not stopping…" said Sheldon, dropping the leaf that was now completely red with blood onto the ground as he sat down and leaned forward. Blood was gushing out of both of his nostrils. "This is why you all should have slept down in the sand." He sniffed and coughed. "Those stupid things probably came out of the jungle grass." Leonard was turning to look at him angrily.

"Whatever, just get your blood away from our sleeping space - holy crap!" He only just realized how much was coming out. Sheldon looked at him as if there were nothing wrong, and he was wondering why Leonard was surprised. "...Wait, I thought you usually faint at the sight of blood," he said, giving Sheldon a confused look.

"Oh, I can't afford to faint right now. I've just recently trained myself not to faint when I have to survive on a deserted island," Sheldon said sarcastically. It was true, though. He learned to control himself and realized that seeing his own blood wasn't _that_ bad. He yawned and looked at the ground wearily, wishing he could lay down and sleep without having to taste and feel the warm, thick blood run down to his throat.

"Oh," said Leonard as he turned away and continued to lay on his side. His concern quickly faded, and he fell asleep pretty quickly. Everyone else went back to sleep while Sheldon was still sitting up. He hoped his nose wasn't broken. And, man, did it hurt. Even if he could lay down without having to swallow blood, he probably wouldn't be able to fall asleep with all of that pain. He looked up at the bright white moon and studied the stars as the warm blood flowed down his throat. The sky was so clear, here - _wherever_ they were. He wanted to keep looking at the stars, but the blood was too annoying, so he looked back down at the grass. It dripped down as he started to doze off. When he nearly fell forward from dozing off, he decided it was time to just 'screw it' and lay down. He then joined the others in their slumber.


	3. Fire, Fruit, and a Fort

**_Before you read, I just want to say that this story will take a lot of visualization! Thanks, and please, enjoy._**

 _July 17th, 2009_

It was just after sunrise when most of the group woke up. Everyone sat around the fire pit as they talked, occasionally glancing at the dried blood mustache Sheldon had going on. They were all starving and eager to begin their tasks so they could eat and drink. "Okay," said Leonard as he took off his glasses. "This fire…" He held the lenses over the dried sticks as he spoke. "Will be…" He paused as they waited for the point that the bright sunlight was beaming on to smoke. It momentarily caught fire, and he took his glasses away and put them back on. "Our meeting point. Once it really gets going, we should be able to see the smoke from a good distance." A few of the others nodded.

"Wait, what if it goes out?" Penny asked, looking at the fire and back up at Leonard.

"I think we'll be alright for a little while when we do our jobs, but at some point, someone will need to watch it. That, and, we'll have to build a safe place to leave my glasses in case it goes out, and if it rains-"

"Don't you need your glasses?"

"Well, yeah, but I think I'll be okay. I can get around fine without them, but it's really important that we have them handy in case we have to light it again. I don't know how often it rains here, either."

"Then, I guess all we can do is hope it keeps going," said Barry as he looked around at everyone.

"Now," Leonard said, standing up. "Let's get to work. Penny, you find the water, Barry, Howard, and Raj, you get the branches and logs, and Sheldon and I will look for food." There was a mixture of nods, "okay"s, and "alright"s, and everyone headed to the jungle. The groups eventually parted ways to cover more ground. The jungle was huge and dense, and they didn't know where it ended. Raj, Barry, and Howard were the luckiest, though. There were trees and fallen trees everywhere, and they had to find branches. Penny was the second luckiest because there were many different freshwater pools throughout the jungle, but she did still have to figure out which one was the cleanest while being close enough to their "base." As for Sheldon and Leonard, it was almost like finding a needle in a haystack to find fruit. And they didn't know which fruit would be edible, should they find some. They walked through the jungle, climbing over and ducking under the twisting trunks that were covered with moss and vines. It was an endless maze of lush green plants, big and small. And it was _hot._ The two men were constantly wiping their brows in a useless attempt to get rid of sweat as they walked. Leonard finally gave in to his body's prayer to cool off and removed his grass-stained t-shirt, sighing in relief as he held it in his right hand. His relief lasted only a few moments, though, for the heat just came right back to him. He frowned at Sheldon with his mouth open, breathing heavily. "How can you wear that?" he asked, looking up and down at Sheldon's usual long plaid pants and two shirts.

"Honestly," Sheldon panted and wiped his forehead again, "I have no idea…"

"Then take the shirts off at least - I think you're making _me_ sweat more by looking at those clothes," Leonard exaggerated.

"Yeah," said Sheldon as they both stopped walking. "I will." He removed his blue t-shirt with a darker blue superman logo on it and took off his green undershirt after that. He sighed and wiped his saturated chest with the shirts. Leonard started walking again, and Sheldon followed, his clothes dangling from his right hand. They were trudging through the hot jungle for about an hour, complaining every now and then. All of the effort it took to look for food was only making them hungrier, and Leonard was starting to get annoyed every time Sheldon's stomach growled. "I'm so hungry…"

"What," Leonard panted as his own stomach growled, "you think I'm not?" He climbed over a huge tree root. Sheldon did the same and rolled his eyes.

"No, but I still can't believe we have to do this. All of us should be at home, able to have shelter, food, and water whenever we need it."

"I know, Sheldon, but that's not how it's gonna be… probably ever again," Leonard said, surprisingly calmly. Sheldon made a weird face and looked at the ground. He kind of forgot about that part - the fact that they _would_ probably never get back. It sounds ridiculous to forget such a thing at first, but to be him at that moment, it still caused some shock. He absentmindedly looked around at the various plants to either side of him and looked back at Leonard. He quickly realized what he had just seen and looked to his right, stopping immediately.

"Look!" he said, pointing at a group of trees a few hundred feet away. Leonard stopped and turned around, opening his eyes widely when he saw the fruit trees.

"Oh, my god, Sheldon, you found it!" he shouted as he joyfully ran up next to Sheldon. They looked at each other for a split second and were soon sprinting toward the trees as if they had already regained all of their energy. As they ran, a sharp branch briefly caught Sheldon's pants, but he was running with such great force that it didn't phase him, and it had only torn a hole above his knee. He and Leonard reached a small clearing about six feet from the fruit trees when they stopped and heard a noise. It sounded like an animal was shaking leaves around. Sheldon and Leonard quickly crouched, looking past the bushes they were behind and up at the yellow-green leaves of a fruit tree. But those leaves were still. There was no time to look at another tree when they heard a thunk. Following the noise with their faces, Leonard and Sheldon looked at the grass that was surrounded by the trees. A red and green fruit, about the size of a baseball, had just fallen onto the jungle floor. Their stomachs urged them to run and grab it, but they both knew that some creature was over there. They stayed crouching behind the bushes. Suddenly their eyes were directed at a large rodent that was making its way down the trunk of a distant tree. It had light brown fur, and its body looked almost too big for its skinny legs. A stub of a tail followed behind. Sheldon squinted at it as it walked toward the fruit.

"What the-"

" _Sh,"_ Leonard told him quickly as he kept staring forward. Sheldon glanced at him and looked back at the animal. It perked up its little ears and froze for a moment. They could see its dark, rodent-like eyes look around, and it put its head back down to the usual height as it proceeded to walk to the fruit. Once it stopped, it cautiously bit into the fruit, sending its mouth wildly chewing. It was like watching a giant hamster eat. Leonard and Sheldon looked at each other. "I guess if he can eat it, we should be able to," Leonard whispered, shrugging. Sheldon nodded, and they both looked back at the rodent. This time, at the sound of Leonard's voice, it sat up, looked around, grabbed the fruit, and darted in the opposite direction of them. "Yes, it left," said Leonard as he eagerly stood up and climbed through the bushes. Sheldon followed, his mouth watering. They stood in the middle of the trees and marveled at the thousands of fruits above them. The sunlight that beamed through the leaves made the sight seem even more heavenly. Sheldon and Leonard even almost forgot that the jungle had been cooking them since they entered. "Well, come on, let's grab some!" Leonard said excitedly as he held out his shirt. "We can carry them back in our shirts."

"Okay." Sheldon was already picking fruit and couldn't help but eat some. But, to be fair, Leonard was eating some, too. It had a soft white inside, and it was sweet and juicy. They picked and picked until they had to climb the trees to reach more. Eventually, they jumped out of the trees, and they had three shirts full of food. Leonard threw his shirt over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and Sheldon carried his two at his sides. They were both smiling proudly as they made their way to the column of smoke. The fruit had refreshed them enough to make the long trip back, but they were still hoping Penny had luck with the hunt for water.

After about a half an hour, Leonard and Sheldon had already made it back to the meeting area. They walked up near the fire and lowered the fruit onto the ground, sitting down afterwards. A few minutes later, they saw Barry, Howard, and Raj carrying a big log out of the jungle to a pile of branches on the beach. "Hey!" said Leonard, waving his arm at them. The three saw the fruit and dropped the log onto the sand. They bolted up the slope and sat down, exhausted from the heavy lifting they had been doing for hours.

"Finally!" Howard said as they all grabbed some fruit. He took a large bite and sighed in relief when the juice cooled his hot, dry tongue. Barry and Raj were eating as well. They had also taken off their shirts and had left them near the fire.

"We've been lifting those damn things," Raj chewed, "for hours," he said, pointing at their pile of wood and swallowing. Barry nodded and wiped his forehead.

"Yeah, and where the fwick is Penny? We need water." Sheldon shrugged as he ate more fruit, and Leonard looked at the jungle worriedly.

"I don't know… we didn't come across her at all," he said, looking back at everyone else. "I'm sure she's fine." Raj nodded, grabbing more fruit. "So, do you think we have enough branches to build a shelter?"

"Definitely," said Raj.

"Yeah, we all agreed that that log was our last," Howard added.

"Oh, good, we should get started, then," said Leonard, and he stood up.

"Woah, let us have our break, Hofstadter," said Barry as he bit into another fruit. "You two might have had an easy job, but we had to carry all of that stuff."

"I know, I know, but I don't want to have to sleep out in the open again, that's all." Leonard glanced at the pile of branches and looked down at Sheldon, who was still eating. "Come, on, Sheldon, you can help." Sheldon looked up at him but didn't have time to say anything before Barry spoke.

"It's alright, let the man eat," he defended. "I mean look at him, he's a twig." He nodded toward Sheldon.

"It's true," said Sheldon, and he swallowed his food. "My ribs are already beginning to show." He pointed at his chest and continued to eat.

"Sheldon, your ribs are _always_ visible," Leonard laughed. "...But, you guys are right - I guess we can wait a bit."

"Yeah, and I think I should be the one in charge of building our shelter since I'm the engineer," said Howard. The others nodded in agreement. Leonard sat back down and had to double take when he looked at their food supply. They had already emptied one shirt. But now that he thought about it, it made sense. And he could see it in Sheldon's stomach. Sheldon leaned back a little on his left arm as he rubbed up and down his stomach with his right hand. He let out a big belch and sighed when some of the fullness went away.

"We're not doing too bad for our first day... Could you imagine if we never found all this?" he asked, trying to hold back another burp. The others shook their heads.

"No, yeah, we're actually pretty lucky," said Raj. "But I wish Penny was here. She's probably starving."

"Unless she found some fruit while she was looking in the jungle," said Sheldon. He turned and laid down on his back with his hands behind his head.

"Yeah, but I hope she's alright," Leonard said, looking at the jungle again. Raj nodded. It was only just after the middle of the day, so they'd have a little more time to relax until they would have to start building the shelter. They sat in mostly silence for a little while before Howard decided to stand up.

"Alright, are you guys ready?" he asked, looking around at everyone. Barry, Raj, and Leonard nodded and got up. Leonard looked down at Sheldon, who was laying on his side by now.

"Sheldon."

"I'm too tired and full," Sheldon said wearily. "You guys," he yawned, "you guys build it without me - I'm not much help anyways." Raj shrugged and Leonard looked at him.

"True." The four of them went down the slope onto the sand and walked to the pile of branches.

"Okay," said Howard, clasping his hands together as they stood around the branches. "Let's start by mounting some of those thick ones into the ground." He pointed at a bundle of large branches. Everyone got ready to pick some up when Leonard started to talk.

"Wait," he said, and everyone paused. "What's that huge one you were carrying when we got here for?" He gestured to the large log.

"Oh, that? That's for the inside," said Howard. He bent down to pick up some branches. "Something to sit on other than the sand, you know?" His lips formed that half-smile as he lifted the sticks.

"Ah, I see," said Leonard as he joined the others in picking up branches. Raj planted a branch onto the ground and leaned on it.

"How big should it be?"

"Just, uh," Howard began as he ran around and traced an outline in the sand, "Something like this." He had made a rectangular shape about twelve by eight feet.

"Oh, then we'd better get started," said Barry. "Do you want the thick ones in the corners?" He said, glancing at Howard as he walked to the nearest corner.

"Yeah," Howard said. "And it's not gonna be perfect - remember, we don't have any tools whatsoever, so it'll probably turn out pretty rough looking." He started to dig a hole where a corner would be. "But it'll be safe."

"Cool," said Leonard. They each dug a deep hole for the corners and mounted the thick branches in them, burying the sides to keep them up. That part alone took a little while, but when they were done, they started to take the longer, thinner sticks and weaved them with some branches of other thicknesses until they formed walls, leaving an open spot for a doorway. And, just to make sure the walls were structurally sound, Howard had everyone put heavier logs against both sides of each wall. Soon, they had a roofless little hut. Howard stood back to admire it.

"It's small, but it'll do the job," he said proudly. Barry, Raj, and Leonard stood back to look at their work as well.

"What's your guys' plan for the roof?" asked Leonard.  
"Ah, yes, the roof. That will be made of layers of some of these long, thick leaves we found in the jungle," said Howard as he led them to a pile of leaves a few feet away. "Raj found them really early on, so we left them out here to dry up. They're basically like leather, now." Leonard smiled and nodded.

"I'm impressed."

"Thanks," said Howard as he ran back over to the hut. "Now, let's use the rest of these lighter sticks to make a sort of skeleton for the leaves to lay on." The other three followed him over and got to work. Eventually, they fit their roof skeleton onto the walls and stuck a few layers of leaves on it, making sure they wouldn't blow off too easily. After they pushed the big log in through the doorway, they sat on (or next to) it, satisfied with their work and thankful for the shade.

"We did good," said Raj. Barry looked around at the walls and ceiling, smiling.

"Yeah this place actually seems a little more roomy than I thought it would be."

"I'm glad it worked out," said Howard. "...Now let's enjoy it before Sheldon wakes up," he joked. The other three laughed a little and relaxed on the cool sand, some with their heads against the log. It was silent for a while until Howard looked at Leonard. "You think Penny died?" Leonard opened his eyes wide at the thought of Penny's death and quickly stood up. Howard sat up after him. "Hey, I'm joking."

"No, this seems really bad for me to say, but I forgot she was even still out there," Leonard said worriedly as he paced and rubbed his forehead and chin. "I'm going out to look for her."

"I'm coming, too," said Raj as he got up and followed Leonard out of the hut. Barry and Howard felt like she was okay and probably just taking a while to find clean water. To be fair, it was probably pretty hard to find _clean_ water in the _jungle_. It wasn't that they didn't care about her. They just knew that she'd be alright on her own. It was Penny.

Just as Leonard and Raj left the hut, they saw Penny sitting by Sheldon up on the ledge, and they ran up to her. "There you are!" Leonard shouted as he dropped down and hugged her. She barely even had time to hear them running up there.

"Hm?" She was eating a fruit. "Oh, hey Leonard. Hey Raj (he smiled waved), sorry I didn't tell you guys I was back - I'm _starving._ " She wiped some juice off of her mouth and kissed Leonard on the cheek, smiling. He smiled back.

"We built a shelter," he said, pointing at the hut.

"Yeah, I saw! It looks great." Leonard faced her again and remembered why she was in the jungle in the first place.

"Oh! Did you find any water? We're parched." Penny nodded as she bit her fruit.

"Yeah, I think it's okay, I mean," she chewed, "I haven't died yet, and I drank it a while ago."

"Why were you gone so long, then?"

"Well, come on Leonard, you know how hot it is… I went for a… swim," she said, smiling.

"In the drinking water?"

"No - It's actually pretty cool. There's like a really big pool of water that's like right next to the one that we can drink out of. It's really nice looking, too. The jungle's actually pretty beautiful." Leonard smiled at her, but she frowned at him. His smile faded, and he gave her a confused look.

"What?"

"Ugh, you guys are so lucky," she said, gesturing at the three men. "You get to take off your shirts - it's _so hot_." Raj looked at her worriedly and whispered in Leonard's ear.

"What? No, Raj you don't _have_ to put your shirt back on." Leonard looked at him weirdly as he backed away and shrugged. He turned back to Penny "And, Penny, if you want, you don't have to wear a shirt. This _is_ a deserted island."

"I know, but… _Howard…_ "

"Oh, yeah, that…" said Leonard as he looked at the hut. He looked back at Penny. "Don't worry about him. I'll tell him to control himself, and if he doesn't he'll be the first one to die," he joked. Penny smiled, laughing a bit.

"Okay, cool." She took off her sweaty tank top and her bra and tossed them onto the grass so that she was only wearing shorts and underwear just like the guys (except Sheldon, who was still managing to survive wearing long pants). Raj nearly fainted. Leonard noticed it and hit him on the leg. Penny looked at both of them like nothing was different. "Guys, it's okay. Think about it - animals don't wear clothes."

"She's right," said Leonard as he looked at Raj again. "And when have we been more animal than we'll be on this island?" he asked rhetorically and smiled at Penny. She smiled back and stood up.

"So, shall we go to get some water?" she asked as she clapped her hands together.

"Please," said Leonard, standing up. "Raj, go get Barry and Howard while I wake up Sheldon." Raj nodded and ran down onto the beach to the hut. Leonard and Penny both looked down at Sheldon.

"He looks pretty tired," said Penny.

"Yeah, but he needs water." Leonard gave Sheldon a soft kick to the stomach.

"Ow."

"Get up. Penny found water."

"Really?" Sheldon asked excitedly. He stood up and looked at her expectantly, but the three of them just stood there. He looked to both sides and back at Penny's face. "Where did you find it?"

"Hold on," she laughed. "We have to wait for the guys."

"Oh," said Sheldon, and he looked at the hut and smiled. "Hey, we have a shelter… Oh, lord, how long have I been asleep?"

"It wasn't that long," Leonard said as he looked at the doorway to the hut to see if they were coming out yet. "We actually put it up pretty fast."

"Oh, good," said Sheldon calmly, and they saw Barry, Raj, and Howard emerge from the hut. Leonard watched Howard's every move to make sure he didn't make Penny uncomfortable as they walked up to them. He actually took Penny's shirtlessness quite well and even managed to make it look like he didn't notice. He just smiled at Leonard, and the five of them followed her into the jungle.

The pool of water she told them about was actually relatively close to their starting point, and it was a sure relief. Water was the most important thing, especially on an island as hot as this one. Penny led them to the small strip of land that was in between the two bodies of water. "Okay, so this one," she said as she pointed to the smaller one on her left, "is the one I drank from and didn't die, and that one," she turned and nodded to the larger pool, "is the one we can swim in. The water's pretty cool, and it feels nice once you get past the gross plants."

"Cool," said Barry as he crouched down in front of the drinking water. He cupped his hands and lowered them in, bringing them back up to his mouth and drinking some. "Not bad." He went in for more, and Raj, Howard, and Leonard followed. They each tested the water before drinking it thirstily and splashing some on their faces and hair. Sheldon watched them like he was watching monkeys playing in water.

"Go on, sweetie, I drank it, and I'm fine," said Penny as she sat down and joined them. Sheldon looked at her worriedly. But it felt like he was on fire. He crouched down and drank. It felt so nice to finally feel cool water go down his throat as opposed to the warm blood he had tasted the night before. And although it wasn't apple juice on an airplane, he enjoyed it. When they were all done rehydrating themselves, they got up and walked over to the other body of water. Penny was right - it was beautiful. The water was surrounded by vibrant greens, and since there was so much of it, there was no room for trees to have grown, so they could see the sky above them. Raj quickly removed the rest of his clothes and hopped in. In all honesty, it was still a bit weird for them to see each other naked, but they were quickly getting used to it. After all, it was natural. Everyone watched as he came to the surface. He put his thumbs up and smiled, submerging himself again. Penny took her shorts and underwear off and dove in, everyone else (but Sheldon, of course) following her. She came back up and smiled at Sheldon, who was sitting at the edge of the water. "Come on!" She said joyfully, beckoning him.

"I don't know…" he said. Penny swam around in circles showing how lovely the water was.

"You're missing out…" Sheldon smiled a little and stood up.

"Alright, you got me. It does look nice," he said as he took off his pants and underwear. As soon as the underwear came off, Penny smiled evilly and splashed him. "Hey!" He threw his clothes at a nearby bush and made a playfully angry face at her. She put her hands up to block the splash as he jumped in close. He shook his head around and smiled at her. "It feels so good."

"I told you," she said as she swam away. The others were further along more towards the middle of the water, and that's where she was headed. Sheldon followed her, thinking about how different he was acting than even _he_ would have thought. Here he was, having fun swimming naked with a bunch of people without a care in the world. Maybe this island wasn't so bad, after all.


	4. Jungle Hamster

_**-This chapter has a few shorter scenes with a lot of transition, and, I will tell you, it's not the most exciting chapter, but it's an important one-**_

Everyone swam until the sun started to set, and they hastily got out, put on their clothes, and walked back to the beach before it got too dark. Once they exited the jungle, they all sat around the fire pit to eat their fruit. The fire was dying down a little, so Barry tossed in a few more sticks. As everyone else talked amongst each other and ate, Sheldon was looking at the hut weirdly. "Are you sure we'll all fit in there?" he asked, looking at the guys.

"It might be a little crammed right now, but we can always build individuals," said Howard. "We'll just have to see how it goes for tonight." Sheldon nodded and picked up a fruit to take with as he stood up to go into the hut. Everyone else watched him walk away and went back to their conversations. It was getting pretty dark now, and the sand was cooler on Sheldon's feet (they had all ditched their shoes when they proved useless in the mud of the jungle). When he reached the doorway, he moved his toes around in the sand. It was very soft and comfortable. He was glad that they were all going to be sleeping on it instead of the grass. The grass had been soft, too, but this sand was like silk. He walked into the dark little fort and looked around at the walls. There was a little bit of moonlight that had reached the inside through the spaces between branches, and it had a calming effect. Coupled with the quiet sound of the waves a few hundred feet away, Sheldon felt like this would be a nice place to sleep. He went and gently sat on the log, facing down and then looking back up to see out of the doorway. It was still weird to see his friends all sitting around a fire, barely clothed, and not seeming to really care that they would have to live on this island. It's not that he wanted them to be depressed, but it all felt a little too "okay." He himself was experiencing great stress, even though he often didn't show it. There was always the fear of the jungle and whatever creatures lived in it, the fear of disease, the fear of the weather, the fear of getting lost, and, and he had hoped so badly that it would never come to this, the fear of each other. Sheldon knew that they were already slipping into their primitive side, and it scared him. He feared that they would eventually be turned against each other by nature, and he didn't want to lose his friends. He sat and played around with the fruit in his hand, realizing that his thoughts had caused him to lose his appetite. But he continued to think about such things as he ducked his head down in silence.

"Hey." Sheldon looked up and saw Leonard walking over to him. He watched Leonard come into the hut and look down at him. The others watched as well. "Are you feeling okay, Sheldon? We're all still just talking up there." Sheldon nodded.

"Yes, I just thought I might have some quiet time alone," he said quietly, looking back down at the sand. "Maybe go to sleep soon…" He absentmindedly rubbed the back of his wet neck.

"Oh, okay, just making sure," said Leonard as he started for the doorway. "I'll leave you alone, then. Bye, Sheldon."

"Bye," said Sheldon as he watched Leonard run back to the fire and sit down, laughing with everyone. He envied their carefreeness. Sure, he had felt like that earlier when they were swimming, but at the time, it was still hard to believe that they weren't just on some weird vacation and that this was their life, now. As he became more aware of that, it made him jealous. He considered going back out to talk with them and laugh, but he _was_ getting tired. So, instead, he slid himself onto the ground and laid on his side with his back touching the log. After a few minutes of listening to the distant crashing of the ocean waves, he drifted off into a deep sleep, still gently clutching the fruit in his left hand.

Sheldon woke up when the moon and stars were still visible in the sky. He looked around at Leonard, Penny, Raj, Howard, and Barry (and noticed the abandoned fruit next to him in the sand) as they slept and briefly wondered how late they had been up last night. The matter didn't stick in his head, though, and he quietly snuck past them and left the hut. He made his way to the fire, staring at the dark jungle before him. Dangerous as that place might eventually prove to be, there was something about its mysteriousness that made him want to explore it. But he was too afraid to do it alone, for now, so he just grabbed some fruit and ate it as he sat down on the ledge and waited for everyone else to wake up. He was looking out at the ocean and watched the sun begin to rise. As the sky grew brighter, the air and the ground grew hotter. Sheldon held the fruit he was eating in his mouth and pulled his pants off. He tossed them down into the sand and grabbed his fruit again so he could finish eating it. His underwear was all dirty from when he left it next to the water when they went swimming the day before. It bothered him a little, but not enough to make him take it off. He tried to be exposed as least as possible. Eventually, and surprisingly, Penny was the next to wake up, and she came out of the hut, rubbing her eyes wearily. She lifted her eyebrows when she saw Sheldon and walked over to him. "There you are," she said, passing him and going to the food. "I got a little scared when I saw you weren't in there." She yawned, and Sheldon turned around to face her.

"Sorry. I woke up pretty early and got hungry."

"Oh, no problem, sweetie." She sat next to him on the edge of the grass and smiled. "Just glad you're fine, is all." They both looked at the hut for a little while as Penny ate her fruit. She then turned to look at him again. "So, you ditched the pants?"

"Yeah," Sheldon sighed. "It's way too hot to be wearing such things." Penny laughed silently and faced the hut again. Sheldon turned to look at her again. "...Do you think we all might turn against each other at some point?" Penny looked at him questionably, confused as to why he'd ask that right then.

"Well," she said as she readjusted how she was sitting, "I really do _hope_ that never happens, but," she shrugged, "I could never be sure of _anything_..." She watched Sheldon look down at his legs. "Hey." He looked up. "I just want you to know that if something like that does happen, between _any_ of us, I will always love you." Sheldon smiled and looked down again as the rest of the group emerged from the shelter. He and Penny stood up as they walked over.

"Hey, guys," she said.

"Hey," said Leonard. They all climbed up onto the grass. Raj, Barry, and Howard started to eat fruit as Leonard stayed standing by Penny and Sheldon. "We're running low on food, so I think Sheldon and I should go get some more in a little bit." Sheldon nodded and looked at the jungle.

"Oh, okay," said Penny, looking down at what was once an abundance of food. Now, there was barely any left. "I think I'm gonna walk around in the jungle for a while and see if I find anything, you know… different." Sheldon perked up.

"You're going by yourself?" he asked, remembering that he had turned down his opportunity to go alone.

"Yeah…?" she said, confused a bit as he looked at her worriedly. Penny looked at him questionably again but quickly changed her expression to more of the face she'd make when looking at a cute animal. "Aw, Sheldon, you're worried about me, aren't you?" She put her hand up on his shoulder and moved it around a little. He glanced at Leonard.

"Yes," he lied. He knew she'd be okay. He was just jealous of the fact that she was brave enough to go alone, unlike he was earlier.

"That's really sweet, but I think I can handle it," she said, smiling and taking her hand away. Sheldon looked down at his feet awkwardly, and she started to go towards the jungle. "Well, I'll be off. I wish you guys luck in re-finding the fruit!" She disappeared into the plants, leaving Leonard and Sheldon standing by the guys.

"Here," said Barry, suddenly. He threw his shirt at Leonard as he bit into one of the last fruits, and because Leonard wasn't expecting it, the shirt just hit him and fell to the ground. Leonard gave him a confused look. "To carry the fruit."

"Oh, right," said Leonard as he bent down and picked up the shirt. He started to walk towards the jungle and looked at Sheldon. "Sheldon, can you grab our shirts?"

"Okay," said Sheldon. He reached for the three shirts on the ground, and Raj handed them to him. "Thank you."

"No problem," said Raj. Sheldon followed Leonard into the jungle, and the other three waved them goodbye.

Before she started to actually explore the jungle, Penny had gone to what would become their usual drinking area - their "waterhole", if you will. She drank a bit and went for a quick swim in the pool next to it to cool off. Now that she was refreshed, she picked up her clothes and walked further into the jungle, letting herself dry before putting them back on. She found that she kind of liked walking around naked in the jungle. It sounds weird, even to her, but there was something about it that felt right. Once she had been walking long enough to have dried off, though, she decided to just put her underwear and shorts back on, anyways. Clothes were still nice, too. As she continued to climb under and over the various plants and trunks and climbed over puddles, she realized how repetitive this part of the jungle was. She wanted to find something more interesting - like a cave, or a beautiful waterfall, or even just a river. The two pools of water she had found the other day were magnificent, don't get her wrong, but everything was the same. It was now her _goal_ to try to find something different. Penny walked deeper and deeper into the jungle until she saw a distant cliff through the fog. _Yes_ , she thought to herself. And although it was a good few miles away, she definitely wanted to check it out. It wasn't like she had things to do. She could definitely spare a few hours to make this island life a little more interesting.

Leonard and Sheldon were picking more fruit from the trees they found yesterday and had been filling up the shirts. They were both in different trees, each with one shirt, and they had left two other shirtfuls of fruit in the middle of them. Neither paid attention to the fact that one of those rodent things had come and was starting to drag Sheldon's green undershirt, which was filled with fruit, towards a bush. Leonard just happened to glance down at the spot they left the food in and realized what was happening. "Hey!" He shouted, throwing a fruit at the ground near the rodent. Letting go of the shirt, it looked up and hissed. Leonard's eyes opened wide at the noise, and he frowned again, picking up another fruit. He chucked it at the creature and nailed it in the face. There was a loud squeak, and the next thing he knew, it was laying on its side. "Oh, my god." Leonard grabbed the shirtful of fruit he had with him in the tree and jumped down. "Sheldon, get down here!" he called to the tree Sheldon was in and ran over to the rodent.

"What?" Sheldon asked as he hopped out of the tree and saw the shirt that had been dragged near a bush. "Hey, did you see-"

"Look," said Leonard, carefully getting closer to the animal. Sheldon gasped quietly.

"It's one of those things," he said, walking closer and kneeling onto the grass.

"Yeah." Leonard was studying its body.

"What happened to it?"  
"I kinda… hit it in the face with one of these," Leonard said as he held up a fruit.

"What did you do that for?"  
"He was stealing our food!" Leonard said defensively and pointed to the green undershirt. Sheldon glanced at it and looked back at him.

"Oh." He also began to study the rodent's body. It was still breathing, but its eyes were shut, and it was completely motionless. "Is it…okay?"

"I don't know!" Leonard said worriedly. "What do we do? Do we leave it, I mean it's just a wild animal..."

"I'm not sure." They sat there for a few moments until they saw its eyes open. Sheldon looked at Leonard to make sure he noticed. Leonard nodded to him, and they both looked back at the rodent as it cautiously got up. It walked closer to Leonard, outstretching its head to sniff his hands. "Touch it," said Sheldon quietly. He directed his eyes up at Leonard and back at the animal. Leonard slowly moved his hand towards it, and it bit the tip of his finger. He quickly pulled back.

"Son of a bitch!" He shouted, sending the creature running into the bushes, briefly sniffing the shirtful of fruit on its way. Sheldon laughed as Leonard shook his hand around. It was more the shocking speed than the pain that he was complaining about.

"I didn't think you'd actually _do_ it," Sheldon laughed. "You're an idiot."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Leonard laughed. "Let's just go back."

"Alright." They both picked up and carried their food through the jungle and back to the beach. Little did they know, a small light brown friend began to silently follow them.

"What's that?" asked Howard, pointing behind Leonard and Sheldon as they came out of the jungle. They turned around and nearly had a heart attack when they saw the rodent standing there.

"Oh, god!" said Sheldon, jumping back and dropping his two shirtfuls of fruit. The rodent took a step back.

"Hey, be careful with those!" Barry ran up to the fruit and took it back to the hut, coming back right after to see what was going on.

"Oh, my god, it's so cute!" said Raj, smiling at the creature. Its nose was twitching. "Ooo, I want to pet it," he complained.

"Don't," said Leonard. "I already tried, and it bit me." He held up his bleeding finger. Raj basically ignored him and got closer.

"Hey, there, little guy...or girl - I don't mean to offend you," he said as he lowered himself into a squat. Leonard rolled his eyes. "Do you know what these are?" Raj asked, looking up at Leonard and Sheldon.

"No, but it looks kind of like a giant hamster," Howard interjected. Barry nodded as he watched the giant hamster sniff closer to Raj's outstretched hand. Raj was waiting and waiting as it got closer. Eventually, it stopped sniffing, and Raj frowned, but then it rubbed its head on his hand, and he squealed, filled with joy.

"Did you see that?!" He was looking back and forth at the guys and the "hamster". He smiled at it again. "I think it likes me."

"Raj, don't be ridiculous," Howard laughed. "It's a wild animal that you just met."

"Well, I've already come up with a name for…" Raj quickly looked under its body, "him."

"Really?" Barry asked, disappointed. The hamster was still rubbing on Raj's hand.

"Yes. His name is Alex - ' Al' for short," Raj said, smiling.

"Whatever, just don't cry when "Al" runs away," said Howard as he tossed some sticks into the fire. Raj just rolled his eyes at him and kept letting Alex rub and lick his hand. Alex got closer, and Raj slowly and gently put his hands on the sides of Alex's body with his thumbs on his soft sand-colored belly. He started to lift him off of the ground, and Leonard stared at them, amazed. He tried to touch it earlier and got a nip to the finger, while this thing is just twitching its nose as Raj is placing it in his lap. Raj turned around and smiled proudly. He started to stroke Alex's fur.

"Wow," said Sheldon, shaking his head at Leonard as if he was a failure. Raj was still smiling.

"What? It's just a stupid rodent," said Leonard, wondering what was the big deal.

"Calm down," Sheldon said as he sat down and took some fruit out of a shirt and ate it. "It was a joke."

"I know, but that little jerk bit me earlier." Leonard took some fruit for himself and walked over to the hut and entered. Raj just shook his head and kept petting Alex. Sheldon turned to everyone else.

"Have any of you seen Penny?" he asked.

"Nope."

"No."  
"We've been out here all day."

"Hm...alright, then…" said Sheldon quietly, and he bit into the fruit as he looked at the jungle. When he finished eating he quickly wiped his mouth and stood up. "Well, I'm going to go join Leonard and cool off in the fort, if any of you want to come with." He started to walk down the slope and looked behind for any answers.

"I will," said Raj as he stood up, still holding Alex and followed Sheldon. They both walked into the hut to see Leonard sitting on the log.

"Damn it, Raj," Leonard laughed. "That thing hasn't run away, yet?"

"No! He'll never run away. Alex loves me." Raj sat in the sand and put Alex down to let him sniff around the place. Sheldon took a seat next to Leonard. They all watched as Alex explored the hut until he went back into Raj's lap. He put his head down on Raj's leg and shut his eyes. "Oh, my god. I'm not moving until he wakes up," Raj said, smiling and looking down at Alex.

"Have fun," said Leonard. "But when he does wake up, don't let him eat all of our food."

"Yes," Sheldon added, "I don't want to have to go in that scorching jungle more than I need to." Leonard nodded.

"I know, I know," said Raj as he stroked Alex's fur. "I won't let him leave my side."

"What about when you're sleeping?" Leonard asked.

"I'm sure he won't leave me." Sheldon and Leonard just looked at each other, both thinking about how ridiculous it was that Raj was already so attached to this thing. But they let him have his happiness and didn't say anything further.

The cliff was only a few hundred feet away, and Penny had had to walk through an enormous pit of mud and sand on her way there. She was getting tired of the plants sticking to her legs as she trudged through the jungle, and the heat didn't make it any better. Luckily, she was getting really close to her destination. Once she reached the rock of the bottom of the cliff, she looked up, amazed at the sight. There were vines covered in moss hanging from every ledge, and she could see a small entrance to a cave about halfway to the top. That cliff was only a small part of another that was behind it, though. She wanted to explore all of it at some point, but for now, she wanted to see if she could get into that cave. She looked around for any possible ways up. The parts of the trees that she would be able to climb didn't reach that high, so it was up to the vines. Penny studied them for a while and pulled on some of the ones that hung down to the ground to see how strong they were. After finding her vine of choice, she gripped it with her hands and pulled her body up, holding it with her feet as well. She pulled up and up until there was a part of the rock that stuck out over her head. From there, she had to transfer herself to a new vine that was hanging in front of the overhanging rock. She managed to safely pull herself up that vine and climbed over the ledge to the cave. She stood up and looked around. It was a small cave, but it looked like a nice place to go when she wanted to be alone. After all, she _was_ the only female, and hanging around a bunch of guys would get old sometimes. It would be nice to have a secret little place all to herself. After a few moments she turned around and saw the bright orange sun setting to the side of the cave. It had taken her a little while to get where she was, and she definitely didn't want to have to walk back right now. She wondered if the guys would get worried if she didn't come back that night. _Probably_ , she thought. She looked around the cave one last time before eventually leaving it, so it wouldn't be too dark when she walked through the jungle. She carefully slid down the two vines and went back to where she came from.


	5. Crimson Sand

_**Dear anonymous reviewer that mentioned Penny's boobs, I believe I've already said that this story would be vastly different from what you may be used to, and that includes the attitudes of the characters. As for the others, I appreciate your reviews, and I hope that I can continue to interest some of you. Thanks.**_

 _ **Oh, also, this chapter really brings out the "fiction" (for example, it takes place in a world where hair and beards don't continue to grow, and there is no such thing as a menstrual period - eliminating those two things just makes this a lot easier) in fanfiction, so buckle up. Overall, this isn't supposed to be realistic (as you can probably tell), but hey, I like writing it, and I hope there are some people who like reading fiction. Okay, I'll stop now. Here's the chapter…**_

 _July 24th, 2009_

The past few days went by smoothly and as usual - getting more food when needed, going for a swim to cool off, etc, and everyone was getting a little more used to living on the island (including Sheldon, even though he wasn't _as_ used to it as the others). Raj was definitely enjoying himself, though. He'd take Alex wherever he went, and it gave him something to be interested in. He loved watching him wander around on his tiny feet and sniff everything that was brought close to his face. They even found out that Alex was okay with being in water. During one of their group swims the other day, Raj had put him in a shallow part of the water, and everyone watched as Alex paddled himself around. Of course, the cuteness nearly killed Raj. Penny also found Alex adorable and would often ask Raj if she could hold and pet him when she was bored, which was most of the time. That was the thing - there wasn't much to do. Sometimes they'd all just sit around the fire and talk, but besides that and the occasional swimming, they didn't really know what else to do. Howard had mentioned expanding their living space, but no one really felt up to collecting more materials and building anything unless they felt they really, really needed to. They told him that they liked their hut the way it was, and he gave up on trying to get them to change it. As for right now, it was the morning, and everyone was sitting near the fire, eating "breakfast." Leonard sighed, and they all looked up at him. "What do you guys want to do?" Sheldon remembered that he still wanted to explore the island and looked up.

"We could try to find some other part of the island that isn't a jungle or beach," he said, looking at Leonard. Penny tensed up a little, hoping that they wouldn't end up finding "her" cave. No one noticed her concern, though.

"Yeah… yeah, let's do that," said Howard. "If you guys don't want to add onto the shelter…"

"Don't," said Barry as he shot a dirty look at Howard. Leonard stood up.

"Alright, which way do you guys want to go?"

"Wait," said Penny. She looked around at everyone else. "How far do you guys plan on going? I mean, should we bring any food?" They all exchanged looks, waiting for an answer.

"I think we should," said Barry as he got up.

"Okay," said Leonard. "Everyone take some fruit. There are some clothes in the hut." He ran into the shelter and came out with everyone's shirts and handed them out, taking one for himself. He put a few fruits in his t-shirt and twisted it up so he could hold it like a pouch. The others did the same, and they were all standing in a circle. Alex was squirming to get out of Raj's arms, so he put him on the ground. "Everyone ready?" asked Leonard. There were a few nods and "yep"s, and they were on their way, following Leonard. He was okay being their leader figure, but he also feared a possible situation that included him getting everyone lost or trapped somewhere. He didn't dwell on it, though. Now was time to just keep on walking until there was no more jungle.

They had been trudging through the jungle, all hot, sweaty, and muddy for a few hours, now. It was almost as if the jungle would never end, which proved to Penny that she had nothing to worry about in the case of them coming across her cave because she knew they had went a different way, and there was no cliff in sight. They were all tired, but Raj was exhausted because he hadn't eaten anything for a while. Holding Alex so he wouldn't get lost in the mud, he ran up to Howard and whispered in his ear. "No, Raj, eat your own food." Howard made a face at him. Raj held out his empty shirt and pointed to Alex. "You wasted it all on the damn hamster?" Raj frowned at him and pulled Alex away as if he knew what Howard said. Howard rolled his eyes. "Well, that's not my problem. Ask someone else." No one had really paid enough attention to their conversation to have heard it, so Raj asked Barry and Sheldon. They both refused, and Leonard's fruit was gone as well, so he didn't bother asking him. Penny had barely eaten any of hers, and Raj hungrily watched the dangling shirt sway as she climbed over roots, rocks, and puddles. Howard saw him and sighed. "Penny."

"Yeah?"  
"Raj wants your food." Raj looked at Howard as if he did something horrible and looked back at Penny.

"Oh, it's okay, sweetie, here." Penny handed two pieces of fruit to Raj, and he looked at her, his eyes asking if she was sure. She moved her hand up a little. "Take 'em." Raj carefully lifted the fruit out of her hand and quickly pulled it towards himself. As he put one up to his mouth, he lost his grip on the other, and it fell into a dirty puddle.

"Damn it!" He shouted, disappointed in himself. He quickly covered his mouth, but Penny just smiled over her shoulder and gave him another. He nodded to her as he took it, and she looked forward again while they walked. They were now in an area that didn't require Raj to hold Alex, so he set him down on the ground so he could follow them. Alex was constantly rubbing on Raj's feet, and Raj had to make an effort not to trip. _Cut it out_ , he thought, wishing Alex could read his mind. He continued to walk around and in between Raj's feet lovingly. Raj gave up with a sigh and just kept trying to walk.

"Hey, I think I see something," Leonard said. He looked back at everyone and nodded in front of him. "It looks like a small sand dune." They all curiously ran up a hill to the outskirts of the jungle and stopped. The "small sand dune" actually proved to be a distant sand mountain once they had all realized that they were standing on a cliff.

"Whoa…" Barry said quietly as they all stared into the distance. The desert was carved into the land and it lasted for miles until it reached the sand mountain, and none of them knew if there was even more desert beyond that.

"That's insane," said Penny, giving Leonard an amazed look.

"I know," he said, turning back to look at the enormous bowl of sand. Raj stepped up in front to get a closer look, but Alex stayed behind, shaking a little. Sheldon looked down at Alex as everyone else was still observing the desert.

"Raj, what's wrong with Alex?" Raj turned around and quickly, dropped his empty shirt, and ran past Sheldon to the hamster. He crouched down and pet his head.

"What's the matter, Al?" He talked because he knew Penny was out of earshot. Alex flinched and nipped Raj's hand. "Hey!" He took his hand away and stared at Alex, who was backing up and hissing. Leonard, Barry, Howard, and Penny had turned around to see what was going on. Raj just looked at them like they would know what Alex's problem was.

"He's probably just afraid," Sheldon said. "Surely he's never been this far away from his home…" He looked back at the desert. Raj opened his eyes wide, only just realizing that he had taken Alex away from his home. Oddly enough, in the six days he's had Alex, it never hit him. He felt so ashamed. He quickly seized Alex, not caring if he'd bite him again, and ran into the jungle. Everyone wondered what he was doing and looked at each other.

"Raj, what are you doing?" Howard was running after him. Barry and Sheldon also went with (all three had left their fruit on the ground), but Penny knew she'd cause Raj to be silent, so Leonard stayed with her at the edge of the cliff. Raj was sprinting through the jungle. "What are you doing?" Howard repeated.

"Taking Alex back to his home."

"Why? Why, right now?"  
"Yeah, we just got here," Barry added. "We still have more exploring to do, and it'll take hours to get back!"

"I don't care. He's not happy here - it's scaring him!"

"Then let him go by himself," Howard breathed, "I'm sure he knows his way back." Sheldon was catching up to Raj.

"No, I need to make sure he gets back safe."

"This is ridiculous," said Barry. Raj, still running, turned to respond and saw that Sheldon was very close. Before he could try to lose them, though, Sheldon tackled him, and they fell into a large tree root.

 _Squeak_

Howard and Barry caught up to them as Sheldon stood up and looked down in horror. They tried to walk closer, but Sheldon put his arm in front of them. Howard made a weird face at him. "What?" he said, looking at Raj, who was wincing and holding his bruised chest. Sheldon gave a huge sigh in relief when he saw that there wasn't a crushed and bloodied Alex on it. But when Raj opened his eyes and looked around, he panicked.

"Where is Alex?" He was desperately looking left and right and faced the guys. "Where _is_ he?"  
"We don't know!" shouted Barry.

"Yeah, we weren't close enough to have seen anything," Howard added. Raj just looked at them angrily, expecting an answer.

"All I heard was a high pitched squeak, and he was gone," said Sheldon, also looking around for Alex. "Wait - is that him?" He pointed behind Raj, and Raj quickly turned around. He had to squint, but he could see a light brown ball in the distance.  
"How'd he get all the way over there?" he asked as he walked closer to Alex. The other three followed him. "Are you okay, Al?" Raj kneeled a few feet away. Alex was shaking and backing up to the tree that was behind him. Barry kneeled next to Raj and handed him a fruit.

"Here, see if he wants that." Raj nodded and held it out, but Alex didn't move. He just hissed continuously, and it started to spook them.

"What the hell is his problem?" said Howard, also kneeling by Raj. Sheldon stepped closer, but he didn't kneel.

"Maybe we should just leave him," he said as he watched Alex shake even more and back up the tree.

"Yeah, Raj, I'm sorry, but I don't think he wants to come back," said Howard. He looked at Raj worriedly. Raj sighed.

"You're right… I don't know what I was thinking… I'm sorry I took off like that."

"It's alright," said Howard, and they started to stand up. "Now, let's go back-"

"What is _that_?" Barry was already facing the way they had come from and was pointing to a gray cat that had been stalking them.

"I don't know," Howard whispered (all four of them were facing it, now), "Don't move." The cat was getting closer, and they heard Alex hiss one more time and dart up the tree. Sheldon made the mistake of looking up and gasped. He quickly hit Barry on the shoulder.

"What the fwick, Cooper?" Sheldon pointed upwards, and Barry looked up into the tree. He looked back at Howard, who was the closest to the cat. "Um, Howard, we have a problem."

"I'm aware-"

"No, I meant to say that our current problem is more of a problem than you think."

"What do you mean?" Howard was still facing the cat, and it was still getting closer. Sheldon decided to be the one to talk because Barry was wasting time.

"There's another one of those things laying on a branch in this tree, staring down at Alex."

"So?"

"So it will eventually see _us_ if it hasn't already-Howardthatthingisgettingreallyclose!" The first cat was crouching behind the large root that Raj had landed on earlier.

"It can't see us, can it?" Howard asked, looking at Barry, Raj, and Sheldon. Sheldon shook his head, and Barry and Raj shrugged. "Okay, so let's try to get out of here before it jumps over…" They were slowly and quietly creeping to the left.

 _Squeak_

"Guys, what about Alex?" Raj asked worriedly, looking up and trying to find him.

"Uh, Raj," Sheldon said as he also looked up.

"What?"

"I don't think you'll be taking Alex home any time soon…" Sheldon pointed to a spot in the tree that was occupied by the other cat. Raj looked and shut his eyes at the sight of Alex's body in the cat's jaws.

"Okay, that was terrible, and I'm scarred for life," he said, facing Howard again.

"Can we keep walking, now? I kinda want to get out of this _not_ looking like Alex," Howard said, and Raj got angry at him.

"Yes, but don't joke about that! I'm genuinely sad, dude."

"Okay, okay, sorry, now let's go."

"Guys!" Barry was the only one still paying attention to the original predator. It was racing towards where they used to be standing, and he knew it would find them. But it had gone too fast for him to say anything else before it turned the corner and jumped at him. Barry tried to run, but the cat had just latched its teeth onto his calf. He screamed and reached for his friends' help. They didn't know what to do, and by now, the other cat was climbing down the tree. Barry was kicking at its face with his other leg, but it was just making it angrier. It was eventually effective, though because it got so mad that it let go of his calf to try and bite at the other that was waving around. Howard and Raj quickly grabbed Barry and pulled him away, and Sheldon hurled a rock at the cat's back. It yelled and lunged at them, the other one following up close behind. The guys were running, and Howard and Raj were still dragging Barry as fast as they could. Howard looked over his shoulder.

"Throw more rocks at it or something, Sheldon! It's gonna catch up fast!" Sheldon was desperately trying to run and find rocks at the same time, and the cats were getting closer at an alarming rate. His eyes were set on a large rock that was only a few feet in front of them, and when they reached it, he picked it up and kept running.  
"Throw it!" yelled Raj, trying to keep Barry up.

"I'm going!" As he ran, Sheldon turned and chucked the rock. It landed on the cat in the front's forehead, and it tumbled to a stop, its blood splattering against a nearby boulder. The other one merely leapt over its body and kept running. It jumped onto Sheldon's back and tore at his flesh before he could find something to throw at it. "HELP!" His voice echoed through the jungle. The cat had pinned him on his chest, and all he could do was wince and take its thrashing claws and teeth under its weight. Howard and Raj nearly _threw_ Barry onto a bush and ran to Sheldon. Barry's leg was still bleeding profusely as he just sat into the plants, unable to help. He could barely even open his eyes to watch the guys try to rescue Sheldon, whose back was being obliterated. Howard and Raj were throwing anything they could find at the cat's head, and when Raj caught it in the eye with a sharp branch, it yelled and dug its claws into Sheldon's shoulderblades. He squealed and squeezed his eyes shut even tighter. The cat jumped forward, scratching his skin up yet again, and this time landed on Raj. Howard couldn't help but vomit from all of the visible blood before bashing the cat in the leg with a large navy blue rock. It yelled once more and grabbed Raj's leg, quickly turning him around and hastily dragging him towards the end of the jungle, where Penny and Leonard were waiting. Barry helplessly watched it go by and winced, He looked over at Howard, who was bent over and coughing. Sheldon weakly looked up at Howard, trying to fight back tears.

"You guys have to go get him. The lion's getting away" (he just called it a lion because it resembled a gray, mane-less lion). He gently laid the side of his face in the grass and expected Howard to run to get Raj. Instead, Howard had run over to _him_ to help him up.

"Come on, Sheldon." Howard tried his best to grab him somewhere it wouldn't hurt and decided on his arms. He nearly threw up again when Sheldon's blood flowed out of his back and trickled down his legs. They both got to Barry, and when Barry saw what had happened to Sheldon, he made an effort to stand up by himself so Howard wouldn't have to hold him up, too. He stumbled a little but was eventually able to limp back to the desert with them. When they had almost reached the cliff, they heard Penny scream. Howard accelerated and basically dragged Sheldon while Barry was desperately limping behind them. Leonard and Penny had only just seen the cat drag Raj out of the jungle, and they were already throwing rocks at it (their fruit was too soft to phase it). They barely even noticed that Howard, Barry, and Sheldon had come out as well. The cat was dragging Raj closer and closer to the left side of the cliff, and Raj had been screaming the whole time. That thing's strength astonished him, as he couldn't even manage to stop it by gripping trees when it was pulling him through the jungle.

"Don't worry, Raj! We'll get you!" Penny yelled as they continued to hurl rocks at it. She then realized that they were getting too close to the edge and put her arm in front of Leonard. "Wait, stop!" He didn't stop, and he even had to run to somewhere else to find more rocks, but when he did, he kept throwing them. "Leonard, stop!"

"No! Do you want him to die? Pick some of these up, and help me!" He chucked another navy blue rock, and Penny watched it crush one of the cat's paws, sending it yelping and jumping over the edge of the cliff. The action of springing backwards caused its teeth to pull Raj over with it. The two of them tumbled down the tall sandy slope, and Raj rolled onto the cat's body. Leonard and Penny rushed to the edge of the cliff to see what was happening. Raj was punching and kicking the cat, trying unsuccessfully to get away. "Come on!" Leonard shouted to Penny, and they hopped over the cliff, letting themselves slide down the sand. Howard had left Sheldon and Barry to "recover" closer to the jungle and was also throwing himself down the slope. The three of them reached the bottom as the cat was scraping Raj's chest. He was screaming from the pain and was still hitting it in the face. Its mouth caught his wrist, and Howard jumped onto the cat's back, beating down on its ribs and the back of its neck and head. It whipped its head back, which not only shredded Raj's wrist, but also caused it to hit Howard and knock him off. Penny had run over to Raj to try to pull him away, and Leonard was the next to jump onto the cat. It finally let go of Raj and focused on throwing Leonard off. Not wasting a second, Penny dragged Raj further into the desert (they couldn't go up the slope) and left him there, running over to help Leonard immediately after. The cat was jumping and spinning around wildly like an angry horse, and Leonard was thrown off of it. Penny saw him land on his side in the sand but kept running towards the animal. Before she could get to it, though, it turned to attack Leonard, and he quickly got up and ran along the bottom of the slope. Howard and Penny tried to find any possible rocks in the sand as it chased him, but there was only hot sand surrounding them. They were running out of time, and he had looped back in their direction. "Sorry, guys!" he shouted as he ran towards them. They both panicked and froze, but, to their luck, Leonard veered to the left, the only possible direction besides forward, leaving them unscathed. They watched as he involuntarily led the cat closer to Raj, who couldn't get up to move.

"Leonard!" Penny called. "Come back, or it'll go after Raj!"

"I can't hear you!" Leonard was already pretty far away, now, and the cat spied the easier meal - Raj. Just as it was close enough to tackle Leonard, it changed direction and sprinted the close distance between it and Raj. Raj could only scream as the thing pounced on his chest and tore at his already exposed flesh. His blood was spurting onto its paws and forelegs as Leonard turned around and Howard and Penny ran to help. Leonard was the closest, but even he couldn't get to Raj before the cat swiped his neck hard enough to break skin, tendon, muscle, and eventually, life. Once the cat knew that he was dead, it growled and roared at Howard, Leonard, and Penny to stay back. Penny and Howard were beginning to cry as they backed away, and Leonard was mentally beating himself up. There was only one thought running through his head: Raj just died, and it's _your_ fault. He just stood there and watched the cat's lips lift into a mean growl.

"Leonard," Penny said, her voice cracking from worry. "Get away from it." Leonard turned around and then looked back at it as it roared again. He finally backed up, and the cat looked down at Raj, took his arm into its mouth, and dragged him off into the desert, leaving a long trail of crimson sand.

" _Agh_ ," Sheldon winced as Leonard poured water out of his hands onto his torn up back. It was night, but Leonard, Sheldon, Barry, Howard, and Penny were all at the waterhole. They wanted to try to clean up Sheldon and Barry's wounds as much as they could, and at the same time, Howard's emotional ones. He had just lost his best friend in a bloody battle that he (Howard) was involved in. Deep down he knew he tried his best to help, but at that moment, he was internally screaming at himself for "letting" Raj die. When it all happened, everyone was in shock, and they had managed to eventually climb the slope to get back to the jungle and had to focus on getting back without dying, so it was only now that they had time to really register everything. Penny was helping wash Barry's leg, and Leonard agreed to help Sheldon. They didn't want to make Howard do anything because they knew that he was taking this hard - and rightfully so. They all knew that they were miserable and could only imagine what he was going through. Penny and Leonard would occasionally glance at him as he just stared up at the sky while treading in the middle of the water. He was so quiet. There were too many thoughts screaming at him in his head for him to have any sound left over. So he just sat there, looking at the night sky and feeling the cool water on his body. Sheldon and Barry had been laying on their chests on the strip of land between the two bodies of water as Leonard and Penny washed their cuts. Leonard also had to wash Sheldon's legs because all of the blood that was on his back dripped onto them when he was standing upright. He and Barry would both wince whenever the cold water was put on them, stinging their torn skin.

"It's alright, sweetie," said Penny when Barry made a noise similar to the one Sheldon made a few minutes ago. She had only said that out of reflex. She knew that his leg was in fact not alright the more she looked down at it. A huge chunk was taken out, and it was, of course, still bleeding as she tried to wash it. It made her so thankful that she got out of all of that, physically unharmed. She looked over at Sheldon and thought about how weird it was to see bright red blood all over his sides, leading up to the puddle of dark blood that was his back. In their apartment life, he had been anything but willing to take risks, but now, he was the one who had tried to help get the cats away from them at the beginning, at the cost of his entire backs' worth of skin. It was the least he could do, though, and she knew that, but it still felt too weird to see him like that. Leonard poured some more water onto his back, and he made a noise.

"Leonard, please be gentle," Sheldon said, his voice sounding like he was pushing a heavy weight.

"Sorry..." Leonard wasn't really paying much attention to Sheldon's back, so when he spoke, his voice trailed off. He was too busy being concerned about Howard. He finally turned to look at Penny. "Howard is going to hate me." Penny looked at him questionably as she put more water on Barry's leg.

"Why?"

"Because," Leonard sighed. "I'm the reason… Raj is… dead." He nervously made the word "dead" very short as he quickly looked down and exhaled again.

"Leonard, you know that's not true. You were trying the best you could to help him - we all know it, and you do, too." Barry winced as she rubbed some dried blood off of the skin under the missing flesh.

"No, that's the thing," said Leonard as he was lifting more water in his hand. He opened his hands and let it splash onto Sheldon's back ("Ow."). "I should've listened to you," Leonard said, still not looking Penny in the eyes.

"What do you mean?"  
"When you told me to stop throwing rocks, and I didn't. That's when they fell into the desert."

"Leonard, that's not your fault. I was just stupid to point out something inevitable. I wasn't thinking - I should've known it would happen anyways. That thing was clearly headed for the desert whether you decided to break its toes or not." She went back to washing Barry's calf as Leonard sat in silence. He stood up and started to head back to the beach by himself without another word. Penny watched him leave and looked over at Sheldon, who was still laying there with his eyes closed. She looked down at Barry's clean leg and went over to Sheldon.

"Thanks, Penny, it means a lot," Barry said as he carefully stood up. "But I think I'll just have to clean it again later." He was looking down at the back of his calf as more blood flowed out. Penny also saw it.  
"Oh, sorry, sweetie, I tried."

"No, really, it's okay." Barry looked at Howard one more time before limping his way back "home." Penny looked down at Sheldon's back, which was still a puddle of blood.

"Hi, Penny," he said quietly.

"Hey… (what else was she to say?) ...do you think your back needs to be cleaned any more?" He weakly, and painfully, shrugged. "Aw, sweetheart," she said in that deep motherly voice, "I'll try to help a little." She then started to pick up water in her hands and pour it on his back, gently, in an attempt to hurt him the least she could.

"Thank you."

"No problem at all, Sheldon." Penny looked over at Howard and realized that he was swimming back towards them. She wasn't sure if she should talk to him, so she just looked back down at Sheldon's back and continued to wash the blood away. Howard got out and silently put his shorts on, not caring that they were getting soaked. He walked up behind Penny's back, facing the path they take to get to where they are.

"I think I'm just gonna… go back," he said quietly. Penny looked up at him.

"Oh - okay, uh, Sheldon and I will be there, soon."

"Right…" Howard miserably made his way back to the beach, and Penny got Sheldon to stand up. He winced every few seconds and had to lean on her, but they eventually made it home.


	6. Hope

**_Sorry if things happen a little quick in this chapter, but when I wrote it, I imagined things going fast like this. I hope you enjoy reading. Thanks!_**

 _July 25th, 2009_

It was almost the middle of the day when Howard and Leonard woke up. They both couldn't sleep for a while last night, and Sheldon and Barry hadn't slept at all. Penny was the only one to wake up relatively early, and while she considered hiking back out to her cave, she didn't see a real reason to go back. So, she had gone out and gotten the food this time (they all knew where the fruit trees were by now) because she knew how tired Leonard and Sheldon, who was also injured, were, and because it gave her something to do. She was back long before Howard and Leonard had come out of the hut, though. They both walked up to the fire pit, which was still going strong, to see that Penny, Barry, and Sheldon were all sitting around it and talking. Howard faked a good morning smile at all of them and took a seat next to Barry. Leonard sat next to Penny, and she kissed him on the cheek, but he just sat there, disappointed in himself. They all sat in an awkward silence until Howard spoke quietly as he stared into the fire. "I can't believe he's just… gone." He was absentmindedly picking at the grass, still zoning out. No one knew what to say, so they did the same. They all just watched the flames dance and thought nothing of the fact that it was making them even hotter than they already felt because their memories from yesterday were swimming through their minds. Howard closed his eyes and took in a shaky breath. "I wish I could just…" he exhaled, "do it all over again." He picked at the ground once more. "I would. I really would do it all over again, if I could."

"I know, sweetie." Penny slid over to Howard and wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his shoulder as tears began to build up in both of their eyes. "We all would." Sheldon and Barry nodded. They would even be willing to get hurt again if it meant saving Raj. Their pain was absolutely nothing compared to their loss. Leonard didn't nod, even though he agreed. He had something else on his mind as he stared blankly into the fire.

He simply said, "I'm gonna kill it," and everyone looked at him, worried, weird, or a mix of the two.

"What?" Penny said. She was slowly taking her arms away from Howard. Leonard looked up at her as if nothing was wrong.

"I'm gonna find that damn lion, and I'm gonna kill it." Sheldon shot a confused look at Barry and looked back at Leonard.

"Leonard, don't be ridiculous," he said in a very serious voice.

"I'm not." Penny scooted back to Leonard as he spoke.

"No, he's right," she said. "This isn't some movie, Leonard, this is real life."

"I know," said Leonard. "I'm not kidding. I will hunt that thing down if I have to." He stood up, and Penny quickly did the same as if she could stop him. "If Raj died because of me, I'll be the one to avenge him." Howard was looking up at Leonard with his mouth open in shock.

"Leonard, trust me. You don't have to do that," he said.

"Yeah, it's suicide," Barry added as he also tried to stand up. "Even if _that_ thing doesn't kill you, you don't know what else is out there." Leonard just stood there as they tried to convince him to stay.

"Leonard," Sheldon said suddenly but rather quietly. Once Leonard looked down at him, Sheldon carefully turned himself around so that his wounded back was facing him. He looked over his shoulder at the ground as he spoke calmly. "Is this what you want? Just because a predator followed the only rules it knew and will continue to do the same when and if _you_ find it?" He waited for an answer and looked up questionably.

"Sheldon, you selfish bastard," Leonard said angrily, raising his voice but not yelling. Sheldon quickly stood up and turned back around, even though it caused him pain. He was frowning at Leonard, wondering why he had just said that. "I don't care about your stupid scars. That thing _killed_ Raj, and you're _defending_ it?"

"You knew what I meant, and it won't fix anything if you-"

"Do I? Do I know what you meant? Because it sure _sounds_ to me like you don't even care that Raj died!" Barry, Penny, and Howard were watching as they quickly slipped into an argument.

"Don't be absurd! I care just as much that we lost Raj as you and if not, more! After all, it was you who threw the stone that caused their fall!"

"Oh, yeah?! Well if _you_ weren't so weak and didn't let that shit happen to your back, none of that would have even happened! _You're_ the one who told him that Alex was acting weird, _you're_ the one who let the lion drag him away, and, most importantly, _you're_ the one who made us explore past the jungle in the first place!"  
"I _had_ to tell him about Alex! Otherwise, we would have had absolutely _no_ warning of the attack at all! Secondly, if I could have stopped that thing from dragging him away, I would have! And, I didn't _make_ you do anything! I merely suggested we do that because _you_ were complaining!"

"You know what, Sheldon? All this time I thought Raj's death was my fault, but now that I really think about it, I was wrong! It's _your_ fault, and the reasons are pretty damn obvious!" Leonard picked up a shirt from the ground and started to angrily fill it with fruit. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm about to go show Raj that I _care_ that he died!" Sheldon and everyone else watched as he marched into the jungle.

"Leonard, don't be an idiot!" Barry shouted.

"You'll get yourself killed!" Howard added. "And you'll never find that thing, anyways!" They had all uselessly run over to the entrance of the jungle to see if he would turn around. But he was still walking with his back facing them.

"I'll talk to him," Penny said as she squeezed between Barry and Howard to chase Leonard. She ran until she jumped over a log, and before she could look up again when she landed, Leonard had stopped walking and was facing her. She nearly landed on him. "Oh, sorry, I didn't know you stopped-"

"Leave me alone."

"No, Leonard, this is stupid. Do you really think killing that lion matters?"

"Oh, so now you think I'm stupid?"

"No, of course not! Listen to me-"

"Killing that thing _does_ matter. Obviously it won't bring Raj back, but until I do kill it, I won't be able to deal with myself." He turned around, but Penny grabbed his arm. He quickly pulled it away and looked at her again. "If you don't want to help, then leave because I'm going no matter what." He stared at her angrily until she answered. She finally threw her arms up in a shrug.

"No. Just - no," she said, shaking her head. She expected her response to make him rethink what he was doing, but he just threw the shirtful of fruit over his shoulder.

"Alright... Then I'll be on my way." Leonard turned around and proceeded to walk through the jungle. Penny watched him until he was too far to see and wished he wasn't being so irrational. She had to follow him. She just _had_ to. But she had to do it secretly - and had to have at least one other person with her. But who would go with? Howard, Barry, and Sheldon all knew how stupid Leonard was acting. And Sheldon was in no condition to go back out. Surely none of them would want to put themselves in whatever danger awaited Leonard. After she realized that sitting there and thinking about it was only wasting time, she turned back to the beach to see if anyone wanted to go with. Just as she emerged from the jungle, Howard, Barry, and Sheldon quickly stood up from where they had been sitting since she left and ran up to her.

"Where's Leonard?" they all asked at the same time. Penny sighed and walked past them.

"He left." They watched her walk by in shock.

"He left? What do you mean, he left?" Sheldon said quickly. "I thought you talked to him."

"I _did._ He's just too stubborn." Penny was facing them, now.

"Why didn't you chase after him?" Howard asked.

"Oh, I'm going to. Don't think I'm letting Leonard go off on his own into this unpredictable island adventure of his - No, I'm going after him."

"So what are you going to do?" said Barry. "What are you waiting for? He's probably long gone, by now."

"I came back to get one of you to come with - unless all of you would want to, but I thought that would be unlikely..." Barry, Howard, and Sheldon exchanged weird looks. "Anyone? Come on, Barry's right. If I wait too long, he'll be too far for us to track down." They stayed silent. "Really? You're all just gonna let Leonard get hurt out there?" They were quiet again until Sheldon spoke.  
"It was his choice," he said firmly.

"I know, but even if this _is_ his problem, he still has no idea what he's doing, I mean," she threw her arms up a little as she looked at Sheldon worriedly, "you do realize that if we don't go after him now, we'll probably never see him again _._ "

"You're right," said Howard, looking back at Sheldon and Barry as he stepped closer to Penny. "Leonard needs us. Ridiculous as the reason is, I don't want to give up on him." Barry nodded and looked at Sheldon, who sighed. He knew that his being injured would definitely slow him down, but he still wanted Leonard to be okay - even if they had just been arguing not that long ago. He _was_ still his best friend.

"We'd better get going if we want to catch up," Sheldon said quietly, and Penny's face lit up a little. She was so relieved that they all wanted to go with, and, after giving each of them a quick (and for Sheldon, a painful) hug, she led them hastily through the jungle. She talked as she ran and quickly climbed over obstacles. Howard could keep up, but Sheldon and Barry were still lagging behind because of their injuries. _I should_ not _be doing this, I should_ not _be doing this,_ Sheldon thought as he felt the skin on his back begin to hurt from all of the movement. But he didn't turn back. He may have known that this was Leonard's idiotic choice, but he had to admit to himself that he wouldn't really let him do this alone.

"Okay, so I'm pretty sure he just went the way we did yesterday," Penny breathed, picking up her pace.

"Slow down," Barry huffed. Howard just glanced behind him and kept following Penny.

"I can't," she said, still swiftly climbing over everything in her path. "We'll lose him if we take too long." Barry just sighed and kept trying to keep up. The jungle was, as always, very hot, but Penny and Howard were so focused on running that they barely noticed. However, it did become more of a problem for Sheldon and Barry because their sweat was stinging their cuts.

"Cooper, this is insane. Why did we come with?" Barry breathed, looking at Sheldon to his left.

"Well," Sheldon drew a breath in through his nose, "Howard was right. As stupid as the reason we must help Leonard may be, and in our case, as much pain it will cause, he's still our friend, and we need to make sure he's alright. It will also be a chance to prove," he huffed, "that I, in fact, do _not_ care more about my scars more than the life of," he swallowed, "a friend." Instead of using a verbal response, Barry just nodded in agreement. It was hard for both of them to speak when they were breathing so hard. They wondered why they were running so fast, anyways. It's not like they could sprint like this for all of those hours that their journey to the desert required. Yet Penny kept on trucking. Even Howard was getting tired, and the heat was getting to him. He wished Leonard would have just left Raj's death how it was and not dragged it out like this. It only caused everyone to think about Raj more, which was just depressing. He glanced at Barry and Sheldon and looked back to Penny, finally speaking for them.

"Penny, I don't think we should be running like this," he said. He looked back at Barry and Sheldon again. "Look at those two." Penny stopped and put her hands on her hips as she breathed and turned around. The other three had caught up and stopped as well. Barry bent over and put his hands on his knees, wincing from having to run on his leg. Howard looked at Penny again. "Honestly," he breathed. "they shouldn't have come with… We're not even halfway there."

"No," Sheldon said, even though he was exhausted, with a wave of his hand. "We're fine. Let's just," he sighed, "keep going, so we don't lose him."

"Easy for you to say. You're not pounding down on a torn calf with every other foot step," said Barry, looking up at Sheldon.

"Yeah, maybe you guys should just go back," Howard said. Penny looked at Barry and Sheldon, but they didn't say or do anything.

"Well…" she said. "What'll it be? I mean… If you guys want to back, you might as well do it before we get any further." Sheldon winced and shook his head. Barry saw blood dripping from Sheldon's cuts, which were reopened and stood straight up.

"No, yeah, he's right. We're fine... Let's keep going."

"Are you sure?" Penny asked. Howard was looking at them a bit like they were insane.

"Yeah," Barry waved. "But I think we should just walk." He hobbled into the front of the group, and everyone followed him. No one talked for the majority of the trip, and they could only hear the swaying of trees and the various unseen creatures around them. They hoped that they were going the right way and that Leonard hadn't chosen a different route. But that was all they could do - hope.

Leonard had just made it out of the jungle [this is takes place a few hours after, not during, what you just read about Penny, Barry, Howard, and Sheldon] and was climbing up to the edge of the cliff to look out into the desert. The sun was already setting, and he wished he hadn't wasted the daylight away with his slumber. But he told himself that he wouldn't stop travelling even when it got dark. He studied the enormous desert as he ate one piece of fruit and could see the sand move with the wind. _Damn it._ The wind was his problem. Since yesterday, it had been blowing around that perfect crimson trail until it didn't exist anymore. He sighed as he realized that his task just got that much more difficult. After he finished his fruit, he readjusted the shirt on his shoulder and prepared to slide down the hot sandy slope. He looked back at the jungle one more time to make sure nothing was following him and took the plunge. As he walked through the desert under the golden sky, he tried to remember what direction the lion went in. He knew it would be hard to find even if he did go the right way because it could have gone anywhere after that, but he was too determined to really care. He decided to just go straight until he would reach the sand mountain and figure it out from there.

The others finally made it to the desert about forty minutes after Leonard was unable to be seen from the cliff, so it was pretty dark out. Penny and Howard let Barry and Sheldon have a break before they would enter the sand bowl. Barry was sitting in the grass, and Sheldon was laying on his stomach with his eyes shut as Howard stood at the edge of the cliff and Penny paced back and forth. She suddenly stopped and looked at the three of them. "Okay…" she said worriedly, and they all looked at her. "This is probably a really stupid question, but I'm kinda afraid that it has even worse of an answer…" Barry and Howard exchanged looks of confusion, and Sheldon just shut his eyes again from his pain. "Did _anyone_ bring food?" Penny's heart sank when she saw Barry and Howard open their eyes wide in realization. She facepalmed and sighed at how stupid she was. "I can't believe I forgot that… I'm such an idiot, guys, I'm sorry."

"It's not just you, Penny," said Howard as he walked down the hill towards them. "We're all to blame, don't worry."

"Yeah," Barry added.

"No, I _am_ worried. How the hell am I supposed to find Leonard on this stupid island if I can't remember to bring something as obvious as _food_?" She dropped to a sit on the grass, frustrated with herself.

"It's okay, Penny," Howard said reassuringly as he walked up to her. "I can go back in and try to find something." She looked up at him.  
"Would you really do that?"

"Of course," he said. "Like I said, it's not just you who forgot. This is on all of us, and since those two are injured, I'll go find us something, alright?" Penny stood up and hugged him.

"Thank you so much, sweetie." Howard returned the hug and pulled away.

"No problem," he said as he made his way to the jungle. As Howard walked through the jungle, he looked around for any potential food but couldn't find a thing. He found himself getting extremely hungry now that he knew they didn't have anything, so he was desperate to find even the smallest amount of _something._ And coming back empty-handed would just be pathetic. There was also the fear that some animal could jump out of the darkness at him at any given moment. He tried not to think about too much, and he was saved when he heard the quiet splashing sound of running water. Without a second to lose, he found out the exact direction the sound was coming from and dashed to it. To his luck, there was a small stream just a few hundred feet away from where he was originally walking, and some fish were swimming in it. _Yes!_ Howard quickly looked around for a "weapon" and seized a nearby stick. He broke some extra branches off of it and held it so that the sharpest end was just above a group of scaleless red fish. Killing something in that way was one of the last things he wanted to do, but he knew that he had to find something that they could eat as soon as possible. He hesitated a little and aimed at a specific fish that was staying in one spot.

 _-Jab-_

Howard couldn't help but close his eyes as he impaled the animal, and he opened them to see streaks of yellow, orange, red, and white as every other fish fled from the scene. He slowly lifted the stick out of the water and saw that he had, in fact, caught one. It was squirming for a while, and it made him a little sad. He didn't want to watch it anymore, so he picked up a stone and put the poor thing out of its misery. After looking in the stream one more time to make sure if there were any fish left, which there weren't, he sighed, stood up, and took his catch back to the cliff.

"Alright, guys, I'm back," said Howard as he came out of the jungle holding out the big red fish on the stick. "Sorry, but this was the only thing I could find." Penny gasped when she saw it. The thought of the dead animal only raced through her head once, though, because she was so hungry. She, Barry, and Sheldon go up and walked over to Howard. He was making a disgusted face as he pulled the stick out from the fish's flesh and threw it (the stick) on the ground. "Eugh." He shook his fingers around, and some of the blood flew off.

"Indeed," said Sheldon, who was also looking at the fish weird.

"Who cares?" Barry said desperately. He was so hungry that he was almost acting like an animal. "Gimme that thing." He tried to seize the fish, but Howard quickly backed up a step.

"Whoa, whoa, we _all_ get some," he said.

"Fine, just do it fast." Barry was practically jumping as he waited for Howard to rip up the fish. Howard was tossing and turning it in his hands as he tried to figure out the best way to divide it, and everyone's stomachs were going wild.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me," said Penny as she swiped the fish out of Howard's hands. She dug her fingertips into its flesh and tore it into four moderately even pieces, handing one to each of them and keeping one for herself.

"Thanks," said Howard as he looked down at his piece of fish. They all walked closer to the edge of the cliff and sat down as they picked through their fish and ate the, well, edible parts. If they hadn't been so hungry, the experience would be extremely gross, but due to their level of hunger, it wasn't too unappealing. In fact, they were so busy eating that neither of them wondered what they would have to find to eat in the desert when the time came. When they all decided that they were finished, Howard led them back to the stream to get some water, and they came back safe and a little more refreshed. They were all standing on the edge of the cliff, overlooking the desert.

"Okay, everyone ready? Penny asked as she put her hands on her hips. "Leonard's probably miles away by now, so we have to get going."

"I'm ready," said Howard.

"Yeah," Barry added, and Sheldon nodded.

"Great," said Penny. "Let's go." She was the first to slide herself down the tall slope, which was now cool, and the guys followed. Sheldon and Barry had to try to keep sand from flying into their cuts on the way down. They all started to walk towards the distant sand mountain immediately after they reached the bottom. To be honest, Leonard didn't pick a very difficult route to follow, but they still couldn't have been completely sure that they were going the right way. Again, all they could do was hope they chose the right path. After they had been walking for a while, Barry's leg was hurting more than ever, and Sheldon's cuts were opening again. The two of them had just been wincing to themselves silently until they couldn't take it anymore.

"Penny, my back really hurts… and I have a really bad headache." Sheldon was gently rubbing his eyes and forehead. Barry glanced at him and looked back at Penny. He was thankful that Sheldon was the one to complain instead of himself. She turned around to look at Sheldon but kept walking.

"I know, sweetie, just try to hang in there. We're over halfway to the mountain," she said, looking forward again.

"Okay…" Penny wasn't fully aware of how much pain those two were in. They both just kept dragging their feet through the sand, wishing that they didn't go with. Howard felt bad for them, but he knew it was too late to go back, now. They _had_ to find Leonard.

"Penny, wake up!" Barry was shaking Penny, and she wearily opened her eyes, confused. She must have been sleep walking.

"What?"

"Sheldon's back started bleeding again, and he passed out all of the sudden," Barry said quickly. He looked at her weird. "But you kept walking - didn't you hear us?"

"Oh, my god, no, I'm so sorry - I think I dozed off," Penny said as she turned around and ran over to Howard and Sheldon. Barry followed her, and they both kneeled next to Howard, who was kneeling over Sheldon. Sheldon was conscious - he had only blacked out for a second, but he was in a lot of pain. He was just laying on his chest with the right side of his face resting on the sand. Howard was desperately looking around for something to push onto his back to get it to stop bleeding. It was no use, though. All there was was sand, and some of it was blowing into Sheldon's cuts. They had opened yet again, but this time the blood was gushing nonstop.

"Quickly," said Howard as he looked at Barry and Penny. "Which one of us has the least sand-covered shorts?" Penny and Barry looked down at their clothes and agreed that Barry's were the "cleanest."

"Mine," he said, and Howard held his hand out.

"Give me them." Barry only wondered why for a split second, but he quickly slid his shorts off and handed them to Howard.

"Thanks, now, Sheldon, I know this is gonna hurt, but it'll help, okay?"

Sheldon shut his eyes and weakly said, "yeah…"

"Okay," said Howard. He spread Barry's shorts onto Sheldon's gushing back and applied pressure. Sheldon let out a tiny squeal and buried his face in the sand. Penny gently stroked his hair as Howard held the shorts to his back.

"It's okay, sweetheart - you're okay." She feared that what she had said might be untrue. All she could do was look down at him worriedly. Even Howard was wincing from having to do this to him. He could feel the warm blood seep through the fabric onto his hands, but he held them there, hoping it would stop. More and more _hope_.


	7. Night

**_I apologize if this chapter is too uneventful for some of you, but I enjoyed being able to write something like that, so I hope some of you enjoy reading it. Thanks._**

Howard took Barry's shorts away from Sheldon's back to check if it was still bleeding. He couldn't tell whether it was or not at first, but when Sheldon started to cough, it sent some more blood flowing out of his deep cuts. Howard gasped and quickly pressed the shorts onto him again. "I'm sorry, Howard, there was sand in my mouth," Sheldon said quietly, his eyes still shut.

"No, it's okay," said Howard with his nervous laugh, wondering why he apologized. "I mean, it's not your fault, or anything…" Barry and Penny just watched and waited silently. Eventually, as Penny started to tear up a little, she spoke.

"Sheldon, sweetie, I'm so sorry I made you go through this," she said as she wiped the corners of her eyes. "I should've known you weren't fit to come with." She sniffed and gestured to Barry. "Even you. I made you run through the jungle with that leg and," she gasped, "I'll never learn…" Barry rested his hand on the top of her thigh.

"Penny, it's not your fault," he said. He spoke for both himself and Sheldon. "If we really, really didn't want to come with, we would have stayed home."

"I know, but still. I've been so careless this whole time." She wiped her eyes again and sighed.

"No, you haven't," said Barry. "We know you care on the inside - it's just that you were worried about Leonard. We all are." He patted her leg and took his hand away. Penny sniffed and looked down at the shorts, which had been turned completely dark red by now, and cried a little again.

"Look, he's not even awake anymore," she sobbed and put her face down into her hands. She was so afraid that she might lose Sheldon, and it was unacceptable. He was her buddy. It wasn't that she cared more than when they lost Raj, but Raj's death happened so fast that she barely even had time to worry and cry. This time, it was torture to wait and see if Sheldon would make it. Howard looked over at Sheldon's face and shook his head as he went back to pushing on his wound. He didn't know what to tell her. He was, indeed, unconscious again. He and Barry just looked up at the night sky and waited for everything to stop as she cried. However, in about twenty-five minutes, they heard Sheldon make a weak grunting noise (one that someone might make when they wake up without wanting to). Penny looked down at him. His eyes were still shut, and his emotionless face made him look so calm. She wasn't sure if she just imagined that he made a noise, so she tried talking to him.

"Sheldon?"

"...Yes?" he said quietly. He carefully opened his eyes and looked up at her, not picking his head up off the sand. He saw that she had been crying.

"Sheldon, you scared me!"

"Oh, I apologize..." he yawned and shut his eyes again. "I'm very tired..."

"And still very bloody," Barry added, trying unsuccessfully to lighten the mood. Penny hit him on the arm. Sheldon was too tired to have really remembered that he had been bleeding and was even able to ignore his pain.

"Well, sweetie, you can sleep as long as you want," said Penny (even though Sheldon had already been half-asleep). "I won't keep you guys from resting any more - I promise." She was looking around at all three of them, now, including Howard.

"Thanks," he said, still pushing on Sheldon.

"What about Leonard?" Barry asked. Sheldon's lip twitched.

"I know. We're still going to find him, but I think we all need some rest… at least until the night ends." She was thinking about how late it already was, but she also knew that _any_ rest would be good rest.

"Agreed," Howard said as he gently removed Barry's shorts from Sheldon's back, which had finally stopped bleeding. He tossed them aside in the sand and laid down. "Don't worry," he yawned. "...We'll find Leonard..." Penny and Barry laid down as well, and they all slept peacefully in the desert.

 _July 26th, 2009_

It was quite early in the morning, and Penny, Howard, Barry, and Sheldon had been wandering the under the hot desert sun for a while, now. They were all sweating profusely and lost a little more hope each time they looked up to see the refraction of heat waves in the distance. "I can't believe," Howard breathed, "we're doing this." He wiped a large amount of sweat off of his brow and looked at Penny, exhausted. She didn't say anything, though. Everyone (including her at some times) had been complaining of the heat, so there was nothing left to say. After all, it's not like anyone could fix it. They were also pretty weak from their lack of food and water, and Barry and Sheldon were even weaker. The dryness and constant blowing sand opened Barry's cuts, but they were walking for so long that he was getting used to it. Or maybe his calf was going numb, but he was too tired to care. That was the thing - It felt to everyone like they were in sort of a trance - just walking and not feeling. Walking, walking, and walking. Though, if they started to _think_ about the trance, they would slip out of it because their ability to think proved that their mind was still with their body. Sheldon was the first to discover this, and it was a result of his pain being bad enough to interfere with the feeling of being bodiless. Not only was his back still hurting, but he was sweating even more than everyone else and was feeling lightheaded and feverish. Luckily, they were getting closer, but that also meant that they were just about to reach the sand mountain. A thing of tremendous size, the sand mountain looked like death to the four of them. The very thought of having to get past it made them feel sick - like they had already been climbing it for hours. They stopped in front of it and stood there, breathing hard and wiping their sweat.

"How in the hell," Penny panted," did Leonard get across… that?" She threw one arm up towards the enormous dune. Howard just shook his head.

"Might as well get started right now," he said as he stepped forward. Penny grabbed his shoulder, and he turned around.

"No," she said, looking around for another way to get past. "He _couldn't_ have gone over it…"

"Well, I don't see any other way," said Howard. Barry and Sheldon didn't talk. They were still just trying to catch their breath and handle their thirst and hunger, and even though it stretched the broken (and sunburnt) skin on his back, Sheldon couldn't help but bend over and wince when some insane noises came from his stomach.

"Oh, lord, just decide something quick…" He winced again, and Penny and Howard looked at him.

"Okay," said Penny as she looked to both sides of the mountain, which seemed to have no end. "What do you say… we just walk to one side until we can go around?"

"But how will we know where to get back on track?" Howard asked. "'Cause if Leonard _did_ go over, he was probably heading relatively straight on, I mean…" He looked up and squinted his eyes a little at the brightness. Penny did the same as she tried to make up her mind. They both stood in silence, and, besides the sounds coming from Sheldon's insides, there was a rather scary absence of sound throughout the entire desert. Barry was looking at Sheldon weird, but he didn't notice. He was too busy waiting for Penny's answer and trying to handle his pain. As she took even longer to think of something, Sheldon started to breathe rapidly again and wince.

"Can you please decide on something?" he panted, looking up at Penny. "I don't feel well..."

"Yeah, Sheldon, we get it - we have to figure out how to cross this thing. Just give us a moment," Howard said, annoyed and still looking up at the mountain. Penny glanced back at Sheldon and had to double-take, as she was the first to notice how flushed his cheeks were - and she knew it wasn't just sunburn.

"Sweetie, what's the matter?" She was looking at him worriedly as he took deep breaths and held his chest and stomach. All he did was wince and shake his head as he bent over, struggling to breathe. Penny got closer and crouched to his level. "What's up?" Sheldon was shaking a bit as he spoke.

"I really don't feel good, Penny." He looked behind him, as if anything he might find would solve his problems, faced her again, and swallowed. "I know it's too late to turn back, but…" He paused to wipe his forehead. "...I don't think I can handle this for much longer." Penny looked down at the ground, feeling sad because she didn't know what to tell him. He was right - it _was_ too late to go back, but she definitely didn't like how he looked right now. Her thoughts were interrupted by Howard, who was still focused on the sand mountain.

"Yes, it's hot, and we're all exhausted," he said, finally turning around. "But we're running out of time to find Leonard." Penny turned to look at Howard as he spoke, but Sheldon stayed bent over a bit. "I think we should just climb up and over," Howard said as he faced the mountain again. Sheldon nearly threw up when he heard the words "climb up." He was shaking his head silently, but no one was paying attention to him. Even Barry had stopped looking at him to stare up to the mountain.

"Alright," said Penny. "I guess we should get going, then. This thing looks pretty tall…" She and Howard started to walk up the sand as Barry figured out how he would go about walking up an incline on his leg and joined in. After those three were a few feet away, Sheldon gathered the strength to start following them and dragged behind. The sunlight was violently beaming on the four of them as they climbed, and they've never felt such strong heat in their lives. They still couldn't believe Leonard had ran off like that. And now _they_ were the ones that would have to save him from this stupid plan of his. He had been so careless to think that they'd just let him go and not sacrifice their health for his survival. Everyone was terribly dehydrated and very hungry, but all they could do was keep on climbing. Everything around them looked the same - sand. The mountain was covered in sand. So much sand that it looked too smooth to be real. Then there was the occasional looking back that one of the four might do a few times as they walked, and all they saw was distant sand. However, after a long while of dragging their feet up this unbelievable amount of sand, there was, in fact, something that stood out. About a hundred feet from the very top of the giant dune sat the entrance to a cave. It was very visible once the group got closer because of its exposed stone walls, and Barry had been staring at it desperately.

"Can we take a break in there? We must have been walking for hours," he said as he lowered himself to hold his leg and wince.

"Yeah, for now, but the moment you're ready, we have to leave," Howard said as they all climbed the last few feet and stood in the entrance of the cave. Barry dropped onto the ground and sighed.

"Thanks," he said, holding his leg again. As Sheldon also sat down, Penny and Howard were investigating the cave and slowly going deeper into it out of curiosity. Sheldon was sitting up against the stone wall, still clutching his chest and his stomach. He was sweating ridiculously, yet he would also feel cold sometimes. And when he didn't feel cold, he felt _hot_. It was almost unbearable. He looked up at the ceiling of the cave and shut his eyes, breathing very hard.

"Ugh...my stomach…" he groaned, and Barry looked up at him.

"You okay, Cooper?" he asked letting go of his leg and sitting indian style. Sheldon, still facing the ceiling, had opened his eyes for the short time Barry was talking, but he shut them again when he slowly shook his head. Barry had a concerned look on his face, not because he was worried about Sheldon, but because he wanted to know what was wrong with him. Obviously, he knew that his stomach was bothering him, but he couldn't figure out why. He cocked his head a little as he watched Sheldon breathe and squirm uncomfortably. "Maybe you just need to throw up."

"I think you're right," Sheldon sighed. He swallowed, inched himself closer to the ledge of stone, and in no time allowed the contents of his stomach to be forcefully brought up and out of his mouth. Barry made a face and scooted closer to the inside of the cave.

"Are you guys done playing hide 'n seek, yet?" he called to Penny and Howard. He couldn't see them, though, because it was too dark, and they had gone in pretty far. He glanced back at Sheldon, who was still vomiting and desperately called to them again. "I'm ready to go." Barry heard Howard's voice next.

"Yeah! We'll be out in a minute!"

"Oh, lord, my belly hurts..." said Sheldon as he sat back against the wall. "I'm sorry you had to witness that..."  
"Ahhh… whatever," Barry said as he was still trying not to look at him. "I guess the heat's just affecting you a little more than us." Sheldon nodded, even though he didn't really feel like that was the case. But he was in no condition to argue, now, for he could barely breathe, let alone talk. Finally, Penny and Howard emerged from the depths of the cave, and they were smiling.

"Oh, my god, it's so much cooler down there, guys," Penny panted as she put her hands on her hips.

"Yeah," Howard added. "You should come down." Barry looked up at him weirdly.

"Hey, you said we had to leave as soon as possible, and now you're the one who wants to waste time?" Howard hesitated a little with a nervous smile and looked at Penny for help.

"Trust me, Barry, it's worth it," she said. Sheldon had also been looking at Penny since the moment he heard her say "cooler."

"Okay, fine, I'll admit it's really hot out here," Barry said as he stood up and prepared to follow them into the cave. "But we're still wasting time…" The three of them started to walk when Penny stopped and turned around, leaving Barry and Howard to keep going into the cave.  
"Sheldon, aren't you coming? It's really refreshing." She then realized how miserable he looked and went to squat down next to him. He looked at her with tired, sad eyes, and his lip quivered. A single tear came out of each eye and ran down his red cheeks, and she started to stroke his sweaty hair with her right hand. He just swallowed and looked down at his stomach as it made unpleasant noises. "Aw, sweetie, does your belly hurt?" Penny asked, looking at him like a mother looks worriedly at her son.

"...Yes, and... I don't know why," he said quietly. He was still looking down when Penny held the back of her hand to his forehead.

"Well…" she began as she gently moved her hand to different spots on his face, "it's kinda… hard to tell if…" she took her hand away, "it's just sunburn or not, but it sure feels like you've got a fever going on, and I don't know what to tell you about the stomach ache…" She looked behind her at the cave and faced him again. "But it won't do you any good sitting up here where it's hot. You should come down into the cave where there's some water."

"There's water?"

"Yeah, that's why Howard and I took so long," Penny laughed. "Seriously, it's great - we swam around in it, and it felt so good." She stood up and extended a hand to help Sheldon up. He took it and carefully got up to follow her deeper into the cave.

Once Penny and Sheldon were in the part of the cave that had the pool of cold water, they were overcome with great relaxation. They weren't even in the water yet, and it already felt like they had entered a different world. Before, it was a blistering sun and hot dry sand, and now, it was a cool, misty underground cave with a damp floor. Penny smiled at Sheldon, and he couldn't help but smile a little back. He felt so much better being in this cave and wished there were a place like it somewhere other than the middle of the desert. The two watched as Howard and Barry were sitting in the shallow pool, closing their eyes to further enjoy its brisk and rejuvenating embrace. Penny left Sheldon's side to go join them, and he stepped forward a little to observe the water. It was incredibly clear, and to his luck, everyone had kept their clothes on because this time they _wanted_ their clothes to stay drenched and cold, so he didn't have to see their parts again. The water looked so cool and calming that it was as if it was beckoning him to just jump in and chill out. But he was afraid that the sudden temperature change might make his stomach feel uneasy, so he fearfully, and quite involuntarily, took a step back. He then noticed that Penny was _actually_ beckoning him, so he got closer again and slowly stepped in. That water felt like the best thing he had ever touched in his life. The coolness wrapped itself around his bare leg, and he instantly felt relaxed. He calmly took in a breath through his nose and exhaled as he climbed fully into the pool and sat down on its smooth floor. The soft water even felt nice on his cuts. "See?" Penny said as she looked at Barry, who was also relieved that the water wasn't screwing with his injury. He nodded and looked at her.

"Yeah…" he said. "I see what you mean…" Howard threw his arms up a bit, and the three of them looked at him.

"Look at this - Leonard could be sitting here, with us, but he chose to chase after some stupid lion."

"I know," said Penny, pursing her lips a little and shaking her head at the thought of Leonard.

"Although," Sheldon began quietly, "if it weren't for his departure, we wouldn't have found this cave… But then again, we wouldn't have needed it because we wouldn't have had to walk through desert, either." Howard absentmindedly nodded as he stared into the still water.

"Either way, this place is great," said Penny. She was curling her toes underwater as everyone else agreed with her opinion. There was even the stereotypical dripping sound of cave water off of the stalactites in the background, and it added to their relaxation. A little while later, just as Penny shut her eyes, she opened them to see and feel that Howard was playfully moving his toes around hers. "Don't." He nodded and drifted away as she closed her eyes again. Barry laughed a little, and Howard frowned at him.

"I'm just trying to have some fun," he said, shrugging, and Penny opened her eyes at the sound of him climbing out of the pool and sitting down by the edge. "You guys gotta admit that your lives haven't been very enjoyable since we embarked on this trip."

"Yes, that's true, but you don't have to play footsie with Penny when she's _trying_ to enjoy herself," Sheldon defended calmly.  
"Whatever," Howard said. Penny was smiling at Sheldon as she slid closer to him and gently squished his cheeks with her thumb and index finger. Barry stared at the two of them weirdly when Sheldon smiled back a little and climbed out of the water as well.

"Yeah, forget Howard - and even Leonard - Penny's got the hots for Cooper, over here," Barry teased.

"No..." Penny said with a bit of attitude as she turned back to sit in her original spot. " _Leonard_ is my boyfriend. Sheldon is more of a…" She looked at Sheldon as she thought of what kind of relationship they had, and he lifted his eyebrows expectantly. "...dog." Howard and Barry snorted derisively, and Sheldon gave her a confused look.

"No, I'm not," he said, this time defending him _self._ "Dogs are savage beasts, and I act nothing like them."

"Oh, come on, Sheldon..." Penny teased as she slid over to him once again. He tried to inch away, but the water had carried her too quickly. "You can't tell me you don't like some of this..." Before Sheldon could ask what she was talking about, she started to scratch his belly, and he closed his eyes calmly as Howard and Barry tried to comprehend what was happening. They wondered if they should be watching it and waited for an explanation.

"No, stop!" Sheldon laughed involuntarily as he snapped out of his sleep-inducing comfort. "I can't help it!" He was trying to shoo Penny's hand away, but she just giggled and kept going.

"That's exactly why you're like a dog," she said, smiling, and she finally took her hand away.

"That's unfair," said Sheldon as she moved back to where she usually sat. "How did _you_ find out my weakness?"

"Leonard told me," Penny said proudly.

"That's really weird, man," Barry interjected, and Howard nodded as he stared at Sheldon like he had three heads.

"Not only that - it's also embarrassing," Sheldon said. He was protecting his stomach to make sure she wouldn't do it again.

"I think it's cute," said Penny as she pulled herself out of the water and stood up.

"Well, it's settled then," Howard began as he and Barry got up off the ground. "Leonard is Penny's idiot boyfriend who's going to get us killed because he wants to fight a lion, and Sheldon is her pet that's going to get us killed because we might need to stop mid-battle to get an itch out of his wittle tummy," he joked, using a sarcastic "cute-voice" at the end.  
"While the part about Leonard is very possible, I don't appreciate your joke," said Sheldon as he climbed out of the water. Howard just smiled and shook his head as the four of them started to go up the cave towards the entrance. It was even darker, and once they blindly found their way back out, they knew why - it was already nightfall. They all stepped up to the ledge and looked at the sky.

"Oh, my god," said Penny as she turned to look at them. "How long were we in there?"  
"It couldn't have been _that_ long. I mean, we did wander the desert for most of the day," Barry answered, but Penny still looked concerned.

"Oh, Leonard…" she said worriedly and stared up at the moon. It was full and a bright vanilla - a color she hadn't seen of the moon before they landed on the island.

"A full moon," Howard stated suddenly. Penny quickly turned around.

"What about it?"

"Oh, nothing," Howard shrugged, "I just hope it doesn't drive the animals crazy."

"That really happens?"

"Yeah," said Howard as he sat down indian style. "Where do you think the term 'lunatic' came from? People used to use it to describe the effect the moon has on animals - including humans." Penny just kept frowning at him questionably as Barry and Sheldon also sat down.

"I guess I never really thought about it…"

"Well," Howard yawned, "it's not a big deal, anyways. I didn't mean to scare you, or anything."

"I'm not scared," said Penny as she joined the three men on the ground, which was no longer hot because of the night. "Just... confused…" She twisted to look out into into the desert one more time and faced them again. "Should we keep walking?"

"Nah, we're almost at the top, anyways," said Howard as he squeezed water out of the edges of his shorts.

"Yeah, I think we can sleep for a while," Barry added. "After all, this platform thing we're on is big enough." He laid on his back, put his hands behind his head, and stretched.

"Someone should keep watch," said Sheldon. Barry looked at him excitedly.

"Great idea, Cooper!" he said sarcastically. "Thanks for volunteering, goodnight." He shut his eyes.

"No…" Howard said, and Barry looked up. "We all know that Sheldon is the one in need of the most rest, here. I'll keep watch."

"Fine." Barry shut his eyes again.

"Are you sure, Howard?" Penny asked. "Because if you want to sleep, I can do it."

"No, no, I'm fine. Besides, you've been stressed out over Leonard, and I'm not really that tired," Howard lied. They were all tired, and Penny knew it, but she just went with it anyways.

"Whatever you say..." she said as she laid on her side.

"Great. You guys just get some rest, and I'll wake you if I see anything," said Howard as he scooted closer to the edge of the rock platform. Penny yawned and nodded with her eyes shut, already half asleep. Sheldon, who was starting to feel uncomfortably hot again, crept a little further into the cave where it was a bit cooler and laid down. He looked at Howard's back before shutting his eyes.

"Thank you," he said quietly, and Howard turned around.

"No problem, Sheldon." He looked at Sheldon for a moment longer and turned to look out into the desert. It was hard to keep from dozing off at first, but he was eventually able to control it quite well throughout the night. He sighed and thought of his favorite astrophysicist when he stared up at the stars.


End file.
